All You Have Is Your Fire
by CenterAxisRelock
Summary: Thermite and Ash end up working out their mutual and personal frustrations during a late night sparring session. The event spirals into an irrevocably altered dynamic between the two operators, having to deal with the stress of their job and the insistent attraction between them.
1. Chapter 1

Eliza was working out her frustrations on the punching bag. Her knuckles had started to hurt an hour ago, yet she was still throwing out combinations, wishing her fists would connect to someone's flesh instead of the material. Though her wish would likely be a futile one since it was well past 10 pm and, to her knowledge, she was the only one in the Rainbow training facility. Besides, she'd likely have problems finding a sparring partner anyway, Ash was infamous for taking training bouts maybe a bit too seriously and once had gotten in a major scrap with Mira about her allegedly trying to injure the Spanish operator. And now, being in the mood she was in, she would probably have to be pulled off someone.

The reason for her discontent was an operation from which team Rainbow had just returned from, about 14 hours ago in South America. It was a simple, by the book hostage rescue , going up against the local criminal enterprise. The plan was blunt but effective, gather intel via drones, shock and awe with her taking the point, blowing out doors, blinding the opposition with flashbangs and smoke grenades, putting the bad guys in body bags and getting the people home. But Thermite, in his infinite wisdom, decided to make his own point of entry, bringing along Buck (the two had become buddies, bonding over beer and sports references). The Texan blew out the entire floor above the bad guys while the Quebecois put his shotgun to work. Cooperation on forced entry apparently knows no borders. The two of them popped the tangos from above before the bastards had taken their safeties off.

Now, the plan wasn't bad. And it worked. The problem was, it wasn't hers. And he didn't bother to share his divergent path of ideas with her, before the operation. Had it been anyone else, Ash wouldn't take it to heart. But they both were FBI people, operated together before for quite a while and Ash really thought they had formed a good rapport. So either he didn't trust her or he wanted to be the go to guy when it comes to FBI's actions on team Rainbow. The former assumption disappointed her a great deal, the latter simply infuriated her. She had her ideas about Jordan: she knew he was ambitious and under that macho cowboy persona hid a deeply intelligent and cunning man. If anyone would try to undermine her position in team Rainbow, it was him. Castle was too focused on his tasks at hand and Pulse was too quiet and unassuming. Thermite, however, was obviously used to being the alpha male and Eliza wondered whether, in his view, she had stepped on his toes.

As she kept landing quick one-two punch combos on the boxing bag, she heard slow steps coming from the doorway. Eliza assumed it was one of the janitors and as she turned around to politely ask the worker to give her some space, she found herself flushing with anger as the figure revealed itself to be the very damn Texan she didn't want to see at all.

Thermite gave her a curt nod and the „'Liza" came off less like a greeting than a blunt acknowledgement. The former marine looked over the training room before nailing his gaze to her. His bright blue eyes looked tired, but still focused. The man was powerfully built with broad shoulders, however he still came off as very agile on his feet. She noted that his hair was disheveled and covered in sweat – and greying, too much too early for a man in his mid-thirties, which meant that he wasn't nearly as laid back as he wanted to make himself seem. He still hadn't shaved, perhaps he wasn't planning to, Eliza could see him taking some stupid bet with Buck and Blackbeard, involving facial hair. He was wearing a grey Dallas Cowboys shirt, which she found more obnoxious than necessary. It looked soaked with sweat, indicating that he had spent quite a time here either lifting weights or doing cardio.

„Jordan." She responded matter-of-factly, reserving her smile. „Anyone else here?" Ash wanted an excuse to leave the room.

„Nah. I've been in the weight room alone for the past 2 hours. I guess the others chose to be reasonable and take a day off." From the sound of his tone, Jordan wasn't in a great mood either. He peeked at the punching bag over her shoulder. „You've been working the poor bastard there the whole time?"

Eliza crossed her arms. „Didn't find any live targets. Gotta take what you can get."

Jordan was silent for a while, examining her face. To her dismay, she felt like he could read her, could tell she was worked up despite her trying to maintain a detached exterior.

„You bored?"

„My knuckles aren't, but at this point I can't say I'm terribly excited about hitting something that can't hit back."

Jordan ran a hand over his bearded cheek. „You know, I'm kinda sick of picking up and putting down weights. Kinda want to get loose before driving home. Help me get a few shots in?"

Eliza raised her eyebrows. „What makes you think you'll hit me?"

Jordan gave her half-a-smirk. „You may have the benefit of a warm up, but don't get cocky, Cohen." He used her surname when he wanted to wind her up. It worked.

„Get your gloves on." She responded to the challenge. As he leaned down to an equipment locker nearby, Ash took the opportunity to glance at his hands, missing the usual tape. Despite being furious at him, she didn't want him to catch her staring. In reality, Thermite didn't give a shit about people staring at his burn scars, he took pride in them as if they were a mark of a warrior, joked about that any scar that doesn't damage „his pretty face" was irrelevant. They even weren't that bad, but stood out when he was wearing anything with sleeves above the elbow. Eliza wondered for a moment how much his ability to feel through his hands was damaged.

Jordan stood up, gloves on. He let off a few punches towards thin air, shadow boxing. Ash knew approximately how he fought, he was strong and surprisingly fast, focusing on precise and powerful punches. His only flaw was occasionally leaving his body open for shots, something Ash was hopeful to exploit.

„You ready?" He barked, determined. Ash was unwavering, assuming her stance. They didn't touch gloves.

They started off with a regular pace. Thermite ate her punches easily, as she predicted, establishing his obvious size and weight advantage. She wanted to wear him off and get him with precise jabs, quick enough so he couldn't gather himself and would end up going for a takedown, relying on his size rather than skill. She would consider that a victory.

„So what's wrong with you?" Jordan muttered after blocking a few of her punches.

„I'm aiming to incapacitate you. Something new?" Ash responded by dodging his right hook.

„I can tell when someone's just blowing off steam and when someone's pissed off about something. So out with it." Jordan responded, fists in the air, watchful as ever.

Eliza stayed silent for a moment. Her anger and adrenaline led to a decision. „Yeah. I have a few things I want to talk about." Rapid body shot. Thermite blocked it with effort.

Before she could continue, he popped her near the left ear. „You disapproved on my approach last time." Jordan stated, in between rapid breaths.

Eliza didn't betray pain. „Honestly, yes. I think it was unprofessional and disruptive."

Jab, jab, left cross. He was trying to take her off guard. „Can't see nothing unprofessional about it. We brought out the hostages and schwacked all the targets. Professional as possible, in my opinion."

Eliza shot back, both verbally and with a kick to his knee. „Yours wasn't the plan we agreed on."

Jordan ate it with a slight wince. „If not for my plan, there might've have been a heap of dead civvies with you receiving a bullet, face first."

Ash paused, affected by his remark more than she wished to. „So you don't trust my approaches?"

„I don't think your approaches take in account all variables."

Eliza flushed in anger. He was lucky. Any other situation, he would've ended up with dead hostages on his hands. Any issues with the entry, the civilians would get executed. He had the situation working for him, yes, but he couldn't possibly rely on it being the same next time. Ash thought that he wasn't nearly as adaptable as her. She landed a kick on the side, right at the liver. He reacted, grimacing in pain. Rainbow operators didn't usually try to hurt each other during sparring. But Jordan was no gentleman. If a woman was capable of injuring him, he didn't hold back. So Eliza received a rapid one-two punch, one in her stomach area, the other right in her face. Not full force, but strong enough to sting, for a considerable while.

Ash tried to catch her breath. „So, that's why you ignored my orders?" They circled around one without advancing, as if preparing for a showdown.

Jordan frowned, his hands placed in a position as if he expected to catch her next punch and counter it instantly. „First of all, you don't fucking order me. Second of all, this was the ideal way to pop the tangos without endangering civilians AND teammates. I'd execute it again in a heartbeat."

Ash dodged his half-heated right cross and sighed „I'm always for prioritizing civilian lives. But you should inform me about your plans, every time. Otherwise, what's the point of a joint structure of information?"

„Okay, I'll prepare notes for a lengthy debate next time we're setting up for entry."

Eliza's anger rose. „Might not be a next time if you keep ignoring the plan of action."

„When's the funeral?"

„What funeral?"

„I mean, apparently Six died and put you in charge."

„Idiot."

The clock ticked closer to 11 pm. Now they were engaged in full on combat. Thermite ate body shots like candy, but a good kick to the torso could force him to pause. Only a quick and dirty fighter could have a shot of taking him off his game. Ash couldn't afford to trade blows so, so she used her agility and smaller size to dodge his punches. He was stronger but getting tired and Ash had the benefit of anger on her side.

Eliza was fast and, as she prided herself, one of the best female fighters on Team Rainbow, but it was difficult overcoming his obvious size and strength advantage, coupled with frightening speed she was surprised he possessed. But she never felt like he humored her; he took the sparring seriously and she appreciated that. Thermite certainly wouldn't let his pride get wounded by getting beat by anyone, so he increased the intensity of his assault on her, punctuated by a particularly nasty elbow against her ear.

Jordan grinned, looking like a feral wolf, and licked his lips after her jab landed on his chin. _Girl is a goddamn firecracker_. They had developed somewhat of a rivalry, not a personal one like Eliza had with Elena, but they both wanted to be the go-to person for Rainbow's FBI unit and both felt like the best candidate for the job. He thought Eliza was too self-centered while she saw him as too impulsive.

Ash, feeling as if another one of his barrages will seriously hurt her, went for a clinch. He responded, stable and strong, squeezing her torso and arm in a deadlock. They both used this moment to catch their breaths, trying to read the other's position and a potential exit. All they could smell was sweat. Eliza felt his beard scratch against her cheek. He squeezed her arm tighter.

Suddenly, she felt his hot breath on her ear. „You should get angry more often." It was a low whisper that took her off guard, and the next second she was on the floor, immobilized.

Ash was pressed right under him and Jordan felt himself twitch. He tried to throw it out of his mind. It's not like it had been a while for him, quite the opposite: from his experience if you imply to a girl that you're high tier military affiliated, she's practically dragging you to a motel room by your hair. But something about Eliza got to him. And his bottled up frustrations after a successful but risky operation begged to be released in some way. He had thought the sparring would do but it didn't seem to work.

Ash was struggling. On the ground he had a major strength advantage. He held her arms in a vice like grip and she had little to no options. In a real life or death fight, she would've bitten out his jugular, but Six would probably get upset about one of her operators bleeding out during sparring.

She paused. He was close, real close. Her thigh was pressed against his groin and she could feel his cock through his sweatpants. Wasn't the first time, grappling with men tend to involve somewhat awkward contact, but she usually concentrated on the fight. Now it seems like things were anything but detached.

Truth to be told, she wanted to get laid. All that stress, risk and frustration on the field often resulted in extremely high libidos for military operators and she was no exception. Ash engaged in casual sex somewhat often, nearly all of her sexual encounters over the past two years had been one night stands, though she had trouble finding a guy who would thoroughly satisfy her and her fiery nature that carried over to the bedroom. And Thermite, while often frustrating her with no end, was unquestionably attractive, and she had a feeling he was the type that never said no to sex. Ash always appreciated men who were intelligent and competent while retaining a certain rough masculine energy she always felt drawn to. And Jordan had that in spades.

„You've lost. Tap out." Jordan's growl brought her back to reality.

Her rational, professional side, the usually dominant one, told her she should agree and go shower and dress. But that side seemed to be losing right now. „Why? I'm perfectly comfortable. Aren't you?" She ever so slightly pressed her thigh deeper into his crotch, though subtle enough to make it seem like an innocent move, well, as innocent as you could make while stuck in a grapple. But he knew that she knew.

„Want me to choke you out?" The room was silent, but his voice was barely above a whisper. Ash hoped he didn't notice her shiver a little.

„Bet you've thought about it." She could feel Jordan's breathing still for a moment. Ash felt the aroma of sweat on the skin of his neck. His shirt was soaked. For a moment, she weighed her options. He would either get confused, tell her to fuck off and make their future in Rainbow hopelessly uncomfortable. Or he'd pick up whatever she was putting down. Either way, she felt angry and turned on enough to toss the professionalism out of the window.

„The fuck you mean?" He was feigning innocence, but the tone of his voice, breathing, not to mention his growing erection showed that his intentions were anything but innocent.

„I can feel you getting hard, Jordan." She whispered, letting her lips ever so slightly touch his ear.

Thermite raised his head to look at her. His bright blue eyes were hazed with desire. She wriggled her right hand and he released it. Eliza brought her hand between them and let it slide down his still clothed torso. She squeezed him through his pants, gently at first, then more intently. Ash swallowed loudly. Thermite certainly didn't disappoint. She wanted to feel him without his sweatpants, no barriers, no bullshit.

Meanwhile, Jordan hadn't broken her gaze. His throat was dry and he was rapidly growing harder under her touch. He wanted to pin her down, rip her clothes off and fuck her like she's never had it before, fuck her in the most primal of ways, he wanted her to scream and wipe the air of control off her face. But something told him that following her lead would be more fun. Not to mention, the two operators were still in the middle of the floor of the Team Rainbow CQC training room. She could just be trying to work him up.

The Texan zoned out while fantasizing, still feeling her hand on his crotch, and, before he could react, he realized that he had completely weakened his grip on her and in the matter of a second Ash had reversed their positions.

Thermite couldn't help but chuckle at the turn of events. „You give all your sparring partners handjobs to escape a grapple?"

She threw a stray of her red hair out of her face. „No, only the only one who can't control his dick when fighting a woman. Besides, Jordan, if I gave you a handjob, you'd know it."

Thermite's chest was deeply rising and falling again, though he wore a smirk on his face. „Go ahead, go home then. I yield," he said in a deeply mocking manner. And tapped twice against her thigh for effect, each time leaving his fingers there longer than necessary.

„What makes you think I want to leave?"

„Because you're too chickenshit to do this thing more than halfway, Cohen. You're scared someone's gonna crack that facade."

„You're not even gonna come close."

Eliza ran her hand under his shirt, touching his abdominals, threading through the hair on his chest. They enjoyed pushing and prodding each other on the field, competition brought out the best in them and they loved the challenge. This, however, was completely uncharted territory.

Their eyes met. „You want to fuck me, Jordan?"

„Yes."

She finally pulled him out of his sweatpants and took him in hand. Thermite gave off a subtle smirk, fully knowing he more than satisfied her. Ash enjoyed having something to work with and she appreciated that one of those Texas stereotypes applied to him.

She ran her fingers along his length. Eliza saw him tense up, his breathing quickened. The redhead licked her palm, squeezed him and picked up the pace, running her hand around his thick cock, observing his reactions. Jordan closed his eyes and whispered something that she didn't quite pick up on but that surely was filthy. He was throbbing and she wanted to taste him. Jordan opened his eyes, dazed with desire when seeing her slide down his body with a look that was both determined and devilish. She ran her tongue along the length of his shaft and took him in her mouth, humming in appreciation about how damn good he felt. Jordan's fingers tangled in her red hair, his self-assured detached front was rapidly crumbling.

As Eliza worked his throbbing cock, she registered that she herself was practically dripping. She released his cock from her mouth, licking off the threads of saliva from her lips. Jordan couldn't hold back his groan of frustration. „Fucking hell, why'd you…"

„I'm not doing this for your benefit." Ash assumed a commanding tone. „Now take your shirt off."

„You first." Thermite wasn't going to back off without a fight.

„You aren't in any position to make demands." Ash grabbed and squeezed his cock for emphasis, enjoying watching his breath hitch.

„You think I can't tell how fucking wet you are?" Jordan wouldn't budge. His words lit all kinds of fires inside Ash. She looked at the sweaty texan's face and briefly thought about how good it would feel to mount it and make his mouth do something useful for a change.

Jordan watched as Eliza took off her black shirt, in a rather simple manner as if she was about to change it for another one, not fuck her colleague, but to him that was the sexiest fucking thing. Seconds later she bared her breasts, taking off the sports bra that was sticking to her sweat-slicked skin. Jordan dug his one hand into her thigh and balled the other in a fist. He was throbbing, barely holding back from throwing her against the mat and fucking the sense out of her.

„Now you."

Jordan was busy admiring her breasts and had to snap himself back to situation at hand. Ash was downright fucking glorious. He always thought of her as sexy, but now he was growing insane with desire. He quickly threw off his shirt, hopeful that she'll get on with it as his cock was begging for attention.

Eliza looked him over, not trying to hide her approval. She knew he was well built, but seeing and feeling him directly under her, rapidly breathing, thick chest, gleaming with sweat, rising and falling rhythmically, was another thing entirely. Ash quickly got out of her sweatpants and black panties, soaking wet at that point. Jordan looked at her, head to toe, swallowing hard at the sight of her cunt, lightly covered by red hair. „Fuck, you're gorgeous." Jordan breathed out.

Eliza shivered, hoping he didn't notice. Hearing him address her like that was jarring and incredibly erotic. She ran her hand down his collarbone, through the dark hair on his chest, across his abdominals (slightly bruised from their earlier bout, she noted with satisfaction) and gripped his member. He didn't say anything, his groan was enough and she wasn't able to hold back either. Ash sank down on his cock, biting her lip not to cry out, but failing. Jordan's fingers dug into her thighs and ass when hearing her moan, hard enough to leave bruises. He watched her in rapt fascination. After a while, getting accustomed to his size, she began to ride him. Her red hair had loosened, strands falling in her face. Ash pressed a hand against his chest for balance, pulling on the thick hairs covering it. Jordan thought he'd rather die at that point than tear his eyes away from her. She looked like a goddamn warrior goddess.

„Fuck…fuck, that's good…" He hoarsely whispered and ran his calloused hand over her body, squeezing her breasts.

Eliza picked up the pace, riding him faster, rougher. He started taking over as well, holding her hips in a vice-like grip, dragging her closer and closer to him, again and again with the kind of desperation like they were living on a borrowed time. The sound of their groans of pleasure and toned bodies, slapping skin on skin filled the room.

„Fuck, I'm close, Jordan, don't mov-„

And with that, he flipped them over, coming on top and looming over her.

„What the fuck, Jordan, I told-„

„Shut up." He switched to an authoritative tone despite being as desperate as she was. „You're flexible, aren't you, Cohen?"

She looked at his face, flushed with need, and eyes filled with dark intent, and couldn't hold back anymore.

„Just fuck me, you…"

„Fuck me what? You're gonna beg for it?" His hand slid to her throat and squeezed a little. God, she wanted him to do the worst things to her.

„Fuck me or I swear, I'm going to kill you." Ash grabbed a handful of his dark, greying hair and pulled for emphasis.

He chuckled, a low rumble emanating from his chest. „That's my girl."

With that he slammed deeply into her, continuing in hard, relentless and quick thrusts, making her lose her mind, crying out unabashedly and scratching her trimmed nails down his wide shoulders and back. Jordan's lips touched her flesh for the first time as he made bites along her neck, flicking each with his tongue.

Jordan was close, but he'd be damned it he didn't hear Ash come before he did. He grabbed a hold of her leg and bent it against her chest, fucking her as deep and hard as possible, wanting the redhead to come apart in front of him.

Eliza was right on the brink of her climax, breathless and loud. „Right there, fuck, don't you stop, don't you, Jordan, _please_ …"

He wouldn't dare disappoint. And like that, she was over the edge. Like a wild animal, Eliza was bucking under him, scratching and grabbing a hold of his skin, his hair, unable to control herself. Jordan was still relentless in his thrusts, but couldn't hold on for long.

„'Liza, I'm…fuck..." And he joined her, riding out his orgasm in deep thrusts. He collapsed on top of Ash, momentarily ghosting his lips over hers, but ultimately resting his face beside her head.

They laid like that for a minute, catching their breaths with sweat cooling on their bodies until Jordan registered that he is probably far more comfortable than she is and rolled off.

Ash, meanwhile, deciding which limb she could afford to move first, somewhat missed his body heat. They were stretched out side by side on the soft mat, not touching each other and internally contemplating, with good humor, how the scene would look from the viewpoint of some poor colleague walking in.

The scene indeed was growing awkward by the second. Jordan cleared his throat and tossed her his discarded T-Shirt, in the absence of towels. _What a gentleman_ , she mused.

„If there are cameras in here, I'll kill you." She wanted to clear the air with humor.

The Texan shot her a smirk. „If there are cameras here, I'm asking for the footage."

She snorted in amusement, though the air was still uncomfortable. „Listen, Jordan, I…"

„Save it." Thermite looked at her, both authoritative and understanding. „I'll see you in training."

And like that, he walked off to the showers. Ash was silently thankful to him for taking off and sparing them the awkward small talk. She looked at the stupid Cowboys shirt in her hands. Soaked in sweat, it smelled distinctly like him.


	2. Chapter 2

To the user by the name of mobman111 who had the nerve to steal my chapter from this same story I published several weeks ago on AO3 and then accuse me of plagiarizing my own work when I shared the same story here: maybe if you look at the usernames next time you steal someone's work, you won't reveal yourself as a complete and utter idiot by accusing the same author you stole from. Also, to any authors reading this, be sure to skim over his story Ceartas - Logan's Journey to make sure mobman111 hasn't stolen your work from another sites as well.

* * *

A movement behind the wall. Slow, but not silent enough.

Ash never got to see the target, but she didn't need to. She squeezed the trigger, aiming at the wall, sensing the location of the enemy and the sound of a body hitting the floor signified that she guessed right.

She heard the familiar and welcomed sound of an exothermic charge lighting up. A deafening sound punished her eardrums, but she managed to hear a flashbang comparatively softly hitting the floor, bouncing around and going off, followed by loud exclamations in Pashto that she recognized as swearing. The tangos were concerned with other matters, so she could turn the corner and enter the room. Ash leaned in and examined the room through the doorway. Suddenly, she saw a 180 pound Texan jumping out of seemingly nowhere from the ceiling and landing on an enemy below. The man, her fellow FBI operator, pulled out a M45 handgun and, without hesitation, blew a hole in the head of the poor bastard under him, splattering brain matter on the floor. Ash immediately registered another target in the furthest corner of the room and aimed for the head, since she was sure he was wearing a vest. Her target was dead before he got the chance to realize he was in combat.

Her colleague, knowing he doesn't need to be concerned about his right flank, dropped down on his back and raised his pistol against the last tango in the room. He squeezed the trigger twice, the second time just to make sure. As the last body dropped on the ground, Ash entered the secured room. In her peripheral vision she saw the rest of her teammates, the French tech expert Twitch, the bearded Navy SEAL Blackbeard and the pragmatic Quebecois Buck enter the room with her.

Thermite stood up from his laying position with one fluid motion, using only his legs and circled the room with his pistol drawn. „Clear. All targets down."

„That's a clean sweep then." Ash chimed in next to him. She turned to Twitch. „Radio it in to Command and tell them they can send in a unit to turn this place around for intel."

The brunette nodded and pulled out a phone. This was a good op, almost too easy. Whoever gets to raid this place for intel will be grateful, though maybe not for the smell of the dead bodies.

Speaking of which, there were many. „Good fucking job, team." The Canadian next to her uttered. She had grown to like the man, at first he seemed a tad too unpredictable, but his banter amused her, and Buck was one hell of a capable killer.

„Didn't see you in the room though." Thermite finally spoke, taking off his helmet and googles, revealing his tired but focused blue eyes. „It's okay though, Americans are used to taking care of everyone's shit." He said with a smirk, shooting a knowing stare towards Blackbeard as well.

„Whatever you say, buddy. Just thank Ash here for covering your ass when you decided to go all John Wick at the end there." The Canadian never missed a chance to hit back.

„We all cover each other's ass. That's a non-factor." The broad-shouldered Texan smiled at Buck and turned to Eliza. „So we're off?"

„Better sooner than later, you established comms, Twitch?" Ash saw the French woman nod. „Okay then, shouldn't be long, our chopper is a few clicks away in the woods.

„Good. I'm going out for a cigarette." Thermite replied. „Anyone else coming?"

It was a question born out of politeness. Buck had stopped smoking a decade ago, Blackbeard was a fitness enthusiast who only allowed himself a cigarette when drunk and Twitch enjoyed the vice of smoking only in the pleasant _café_ s Paris. _Très chic._

Ash, however, had less limits on her vices, so she went out to follow her FBI teammate. They passed a lot of dead bodies, saying nothing, but silently admiring their work. The fuckers had no idea what hit them and from where. It was almost unfair, but they weren't in the business of fair fights.

After a minute they had reached their entry point and she watched Thermite pull out a pack of Marlboros from one of his many pockets, offering one to her before she could protest about having her own. She took it, observing his lithe motion of giving her a Zippo light and then lighting his own.

„Think they'll find some useful shit in there?" Thermite asked after a deep inhale of smoke.

„Probably." Ash replied, taking a drag of her own. „I saw a lot of laptops."

„It's a good thing Six doesn't make us clean this shit up. Would surely be a lot more work than we just had to do." Thermite was smug.

„We're way past the pay grade of lifting laptops around. Nice stunt there, by the way."

Jordan's eyes lit up as he squeezed the cigarette between his lips. „Huh, you liked it, right? The fuckers didn't even realize which part of the ceiling was coming open. Light work."

Ash still made sure she gave herself full credit. „Just make sure you remember I cleared your right flank."

Her partner laughed abruptly. „What, that asshole? He was too busy shitting his pants and trying to see where to point his rifle. You stole that kill from me."

Eliza rolled her eyes. They hadn't talked about what happened between them in the CQC training area a few weeks ago. Nevermind that Eliza still recalled it quite often and tried to push the thoughts away. Nevermind that she kept remembering how deliciously sore she was afterwards. Jordan hadn't mentioned anything after that and neither had she. They talked a lot less than before, even avoided eye contact unless absolutely necessary, but it was a better alternative than talking about whatever pleasant mess they got themselves into not so long ago.

Jordan was comfortable to work with, more than Ash expected. Of course, he wanted her again, every time he saw her or even recalled her name. Filthy thoughts consumed Jordan every time he saw Ash leaned over a desk in a way that accentuated her ass just right, or wearing a tight shirt, or brushing back that goddamn red hair with her hand. But he was first and foremost a professional. Thermite wouldn't push her if she wouldn't ask, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. The man respected her immensely, probably more than any other operator on the team. An Israeli coming to America for the first time in her college years, she had spent only a bit less than a decade here but through her ambition, talent and work ethic managed to become one of the top operators not only in the country, but in the world. Hell of a thing. Their working relationship was extremely important for Team Rainbow. All humility aside, they were some of the most vital people on the team. The established order was necessary for an effective functioning of the team and the order wouldn't work if two of its most important American operators would put their libidos before team cohesion.

But now, watching the redhead as she took a drag from her cigarette, maybe now was the time to say something about it. They were alone, the stress of the operation was still in their systems along with the sense of triumph of its success, maybe she wanted it just as much as he did, maybe…

The sharp blades of the helicopter, whizzing through the brisk air of Afghanistan's forests, interrupted his train of thought. Soon the rest of the team joined the FBI pair.

„So, we're having drinks, right?" Blackbeard's gruff but cheerful voice interrupted the silence.

Jordan grinned at him. „Of course, just maybe this time don't pass out after the first three rounds. American's can't drink properly."

„I don't think that's exactly what happened, maybe your memory is hazy, I wouldn't hold it against you, you had enough liquor last time to kill an elephant." The DEVGRU operator shot back with a smile.

„You're right about that, frogman. Tell you what, let's hold another contest back at base? Careful though, you already lost one right here." Thermite said rather smugly, being sure he had more bodies on him in this op than Craig. He was rather proud of the fact, since the SEAL was one of the best marksmen on the team.

„Big talk, Trace. Hopefully for all of us, you'll manage to shut your mouth for a second during the helicopter ride."

Thermite obliged him now, though with no wish to do so later. They all proceeded to the helicopter, which was hovering a few feet away from the ground.

Ash tapped Thermite's shoulder. „American's can't drink? You're American."

The man smiled. „Sure, but I'm also Irish."

Ash snorted, astounded by the man's logic. „You're Irish when it suits you."

* * *

Nearly a day had passed and the team was back in their US base of operations. As the clocked on the wall ticked closer to 0100 hours, Thermite's 12th shot glass hit the table. The Texan slapped the surface of the table in rabid bravado and borderline roared at the bearded Navy SEAL in front of him, who held his own shot glass in a shaking hand. The other American drew in a sharp breath and downed it, to his credit. Most of the team wouldn't be able to keep up the pace. But Blackbeard quickly excused himself with a smoke break, stumbling on the way outside, likely to empty some of his stomach contents.

The five operator team had been drinking for quite a while now. Other than them, the mess hall was empty, the regular workers and the „canon fodder", as Jordan liked to call the recruits, didn't want to get in their way, while their other Rainbow comrades in arms where scattered only Six knows where. The team rarely hung around idle at home base. Most of them were either on different assignments, training or taking time off between missions. There was no need for the other talented operators to stand by while they could be on so many missions all over the world.

Ash was emptying her beer bottle, the count of which she had long forgotten. The FBI operator had engaged in a long conversation with Twitch, who was enjoying a vodka on the rocks, which started about politics and ended up in a lengthy debate about whether The Wire was better than The Sopranos. But halfway there she started to pay attention to the drinking contest with interest. Few men, mostly Russian, could drink like Thermite could. A reasonable outcome of his impressive physique and heritage, but still, intriguing.

Finally, after seemingly having disappeared for hours, Buck came inside the mess hall with a bag of ice in his left hand and a bottle of scotch in the other. „Hey, guys, I think Craig isn't feeling so well." The Canadian exclaimed with a tone of amusement. „Anyone wants to join me on my search party? As much as he annoys me, I'd rather he not pass out on the floor of the bathroom."

Twitch briefly gazed at Ash and stood up, stretching out her tired limbs. „Sure, I feel like going for a walk. Let's go, Sebastien."

The bearded man looked at the Frenchwomen with drunken enthusiasm and dropped the bag of ice on their table, littered with bottles and glasses. They both walked away, engaging in laughter, funnily enough, not exactly towards the path Blackbeard was stumbling at and Ash noted that Buck had kept the bottle of scotch. The FBI operator smirked to herself. She sensed that Twitch liked the older Canadian, his rough, simple method of operating was a nice contrast to her clean cut style and, as Ash herself recognized, he unquestionably was handsome. Buck himself liked to lightheartedly flirt with a lot of the female operators, but she had picked up that he has a thing for brunettes. She had expected such an escapade to happen. Such a French thing to sleep with your colleague.

Eliza was snapped out of her thoughts by the sharp crack of a bottle. She looked at Jordan and saw the man opening up a fresh bottle of Jameson, filling up his formerly empty shot glass. He was drunk, no doubt, but still very focused in his movements.

„So, seems like Navy Santa is lying on a cold floor somewhere." Jordan mused. „And I'm only half buzzed. Such a shame. I wanted to see him pass out on the table, the cocky motherfucker." The man downed the shot in front of him.

Eliza was quite inebriated, but still convinced of herself. „Do you take replacements?"

Jordan looked at her with an amused gaze. Ash was dragging circles over the neck of her beer bottle. His eyes followed her fingers for a second and then rapidly looked away. She pretended not to notice.

„I mean, I must have like 60 pounds on you…then again, you've been sticking to that pisswater they have here for most of the night, so you have your advantages too." Ash nodded at all of his conclusions and took a quick swig to empty her beer bottle.

Jordan ran a hand over his untrimmed beard, now grown quite a bit. „But let's make it more fun, shall we?"

„What, some variation of strip poker, I presume?" Ash asked, clearly amused. She was a bit more drunk that she presumed.

Jordan chuckled and looked her mischievously. „That would actually be preferable, but I don't consider myself lucky enough to get you to agree. No, it goes like this: I ask you a question. About whatever, it can be provocative, it can be dirty, whatever. Now, you don't have to answer. But if you decide to skip a question, you take a shot. The winner…well, I guess who gets the most shitfaced has the least balls. So, you in, Cohen?"

Ash was in before he finished explaining her the rules. „Damn sure I'm in. Better than getting drunk alone."

Jordan winked at her and took two shot glasses, filled them to the brim with the brown liquid and placed one in front of him and one in front of her.

„Ladies first." Thermite smirked smugly and leaned back with his arms crossed.

Ash returned his smirk, studying his crossed arms for a brief moment, noting that he had put on a quite expensive Omega watch on his left wrist.

„Okay, then. I'll start off easy. Why'd you join this team?"

Jordan frowned. „The same reason most of the team did. It's a challenge, a chance to prove your long honed skills in the most dangerous game in the world. Naturally, I was trained to kill and wanted to utilize my talents. You don't really kill often in the FBI. I assume the world has kicked the idealism out of everyone here, before they had even been considered as candidates. Except maybe the French. But those have always been a weird bunch." Ash quietly appraised his answer, nodding. His pragmatic cynicism makes sense, she thought. She never saw Thermite as the world-changing knight with goodness in his heart.

Ash crossed her own arms as well and met his gaze. Jordan continued. „Satisfied, I assume? My turn then. What color panties are you wearing?"

Eliza laughed out loud, but managed to control it before bursting into proper hysterics. „Wow, Jordan, left field, much?"

The man shrugged. „That's the point of the game, to ask questions you wouldn't want to answer. We could sit there and I'd tell you for hours why I chose this job, how many people I've killed, how many regulations I've broken, where I've been shot. I'm sure you would too. But then the whiskey would dry up." He smirked. „So, answer or drink."

Eliza wasn't gonna come off as chickenshit. „Red." She lied.

„Fuck off. Prove it."

„Hey now, the rules didn't say I have to prove anything."

Jordan ran his fingers through his greying hair, looking off his game for a moment. Eliza loved that look.

„Satisfied?" She asked. The air was filling with excitement and tension. „Of course you are. Now me. How'd you get the scars?" She nodded towards his arms, indicating what she meant. Eliza always had wanted to know and the booze inside her gave her the nerve to ask.

Thermite was silent and didn't move for a moment. Ash felt a pang of guilt, like maybe she shouldn't have inquired and should've stuck to a stupid sex question. After all, she had no idea how much of an issue this was for the man. But then he shrugged. And emptied the shot glass in front of him.

„You sure know how to kill the mood, Cohen." Thermite remarked. „I'm afraid it's not a terribly enjoyable story, neither a funny one. But so be it. What's your position on Palestine?"

Ash widened her eyes. „What the fuck kind of question is that, Jordan?"

„Pro Jordan or against?" Thermite was barely containing his laughter.

„You're such an idiot." She took down the whiskey in one swig. „Okay, let's ask an even dumber question. Out of all operators on the team, _excluding_ the ones in this room, who'd you rather sleep with?"

Jordan smirked, pleased that she finally understood the point of the game. „Pereira."

Ash laughed abruptly. „Cav? She would eat you alive."

„That's the point." Jordan's eyes gleamed. „Between you and me, I think she enjoys her knife games a bit too much. But, god, I wouldn't say no."

Ash shrugged and nodded, understanding his pick. Thermite continued. „Okay then. Let's kill the elephant in the room. Few weeks ago, back in the training facility. Did you want to fuck me before, or was it a spur of the moment thing?" Jordan was slurring his words slightly, but his gaze was focused and challenging.

Ash honestly didn't know the answer to the question. She didn't want to say that she had wondered about it before, not to give him the satisfaction, but saying it was just a momentary whim would be an obvious lie. So she let the whiskey warm her up. Jordan grinned but she could tell he wanted her to answer.

„What about you? Were you fantasizing about me before?" Eliza swung one of her legs up, in an almost innocent manner and placed the boot next to his thigh on his chair.

Jordan was unwavering in his confidence. „Truth is, yes and no. I've always thought you were attractive, noticed it from the first moment I saw you back in Quantico, in the shooting range where you tried oh so desperately to beat the top score. I knew that if you would offer, I would've taken you up on that in a blink of an eye. But then we were put together on the same team and it would make work uncomfortable." He ran a hand across his bearded jaw. „But I didn't jerk off to you in the shower, if that's what you're asking."

Ash smirked at the mental image. Thermite dropped one his arms to his side and put his hand on her boot. „My turn. The million dollar question. Do you want to fuck now?" He squeezed her ankle through the boot.

Ash didn't react visibly, and pretended to ponder the question for a few seconds. They both knew that her feelings on the subject were obvious. „Why not? I could blow off some steam." Despite answering the question clearly, she took her full shot glass and emptied it.

Thermite wore a half-a-grin, knowing that they had a way better game in mind now. He put his own glass to his lips and emptied it without grimacing. „I mean, I wouldn't protest, but I assume you don't want to do it in the middle of the table?"

Ash wasn't quite sure she'd protest either, but she let her rational side take over. „My room. The floor is nearly empty, Meghan and Monika are off duty, Elias is a tight sleeper and I have no idea where our dear FBI companions are, but I haven't seen them for a few days."

Thermite listened to her and nodded, his heartbeat quickening a bit. Very unlikely that someone was going to disturb them.

„Okay then." The Texan stood up and stretched his neck. „Lead the way."

Eliza swung her leg off his chair and nodded towards a hallway leading to a staircase. She noticed he had grabbed a whiskey bottle to take with them.

„Careful with that, Jordan." She teased. „You've already had quite a bit and I don't want to get all worked up for nothing."

Thermite smirked, his bravado intact. „Keep talking, Cohen. I'd pass out long before that ever happened." He took a full swig and handled the liquor to her. Ash happily mimicked him. She wasn't nervous or anything, but she knew that the more alcohol she has right now, the more likely it is to avoid the ensuing awkwardness the next day, knowing you can write it all off on being under the influence.

Ash and Thermite passed Jenson's room and heard snoring. For a second their eyes locked and they couldn't hold back their amusement, laughing silently.

„So much for him being a fish, I thought those Navy boys could drink!" The former Marine, proud of the branch he chose to serve for, snickered.

„Give him a break, he went up against a Southerner and an Irishman in the same body."

Thermite couldn't help but feel a jolt of pride. „I have a feeling you could keep up though."

Eliza turned her head towards him and grinned. „I spent a college semester in Boston. I bet I could."

Jordan took another swig from the bottle. „Boston, huh? Bet you're one of those Patriots bandwagoners?"

Eliza laughed. „No, I don't care much for football. I do like the Celtics though."

Thermite nodded approvingly. „Celtics are great this year. Might even kick the shit out of Warriors."

As they ascended the stairs to her room, the two operators chatted a bit about basketball teams, to Jordan's surprise, Eliza proved quite knowledgeable about the NBA. While they were arguing about whether the Eastern conference playoffs were unfairly easy in comparison to the West, she stopped in her tracks next to a door that said „ ", produced a key and unlocked it. They stumbled in her room through the small doorway, alcohol reminding them of its effects. Ash looked around for a moment, wondering exactly how thick the walls were. She recalled very well how loud they got the last time. Quickly, before anyone who could be on this floor noticed them going in, she locked the door behind them and turned to face the Texan.


	3. Chapter 3

This is pretty shameless smut, just a heads up.

* * *

„Welcome. That's the bed. The rest shouldn't concern you." Ash said with a hint of sarcasm, observing how the man in front of her started scanning the room with somewhat unfocused eyes.

„Pretty small." Her teammate remarked.

„We're adaptable." The redhead crossed her arms, leaned against the wall and regarded the other operator.

Before Jordan could make a smug sexual remark, a realization dawned on him, coming from the small part of his brain that wasn't totally inebriated. He didn't exactly carry a pack of condoms on him at all times on base. „Shit, I don't have…give me a moment, I'll go to my room."

Ash scoffed in amusement, though somewhat appreciative of his regard. „You think I'd fully trust a man with such matters? Don't worry about it. Now, how and where do you want me?"

 _Everywhere._ „Get rid of the shirt, first." He commanded.

This time Ash wasn't about to argue and quickly peeled her dark top off. He took another swig of the brown liquor in his hand and looked at her with clear admiration. She was wearing a black bra underneath, simple, but right then and there looked very captivating to him.

„Good thing you're quicker to action in the field." Ash was growing impatient with the tension in the air and grabbed the bottle out of his hands, wrapping her lips around the neck of it and enjoying the rush of the sharp tasting liquid down her throat. She licked her lips at the taste, pressed her other hand against his pants and felt his hardening cock.

„Get on the bed. I want to taste you." Thermite was silent, but still retained his authoritative tone. Ash felt a jolt of arousal through her at his proposal. If there was one thing she truly appreciated, it was a man who enjoyed and was good at pleasuring her with his tongue.

Without breaking his provocative gaze, Ash backed away to a bed at the side of her room and sat down with the bottle in her hand. She took another sip and leaned back against the wall. For a second, she realized that she was in a fucking fantastic place. They had come back from a tangle with death in which death suffered a devastating loss, had ridden the world of a lot of bad people and, most importantly, suffered absolutely no friendly losses, not even a single injury. And here she was, in the cold night of the early spring, the buzz of combat still reverberating within her and the laughter of her friends resounding somewhere in her subconscious from their little celebration before, Ash was basking in the pleasant warmth of the liquor and about to get pleasured by a man who she knew to be a fantastic lover. This was one hell of a life. She felt _alive._

Eliza was brought out of her little moment of reflection by the man looming over her. Without warning, he slowly dropped to her knees in front of her. She forgot to breathe for a moment. Jordan Trace kneeling between her spread legs was truly a sight to behold. Her bloused black pants came off along with the boots and she removed her bra of her own accord, truth to be told it had been killing her for a few hours already. Jordan lifted up his eyebrow and smirked, seeing that instead of her mentioned red panties she wore grey basic underwear.

„Seems I got a liar here, Cohen."

Ash frowned in frustration: „Do you really think I go on assignments wearing the latest Victoria's Secret?"

Thermite looked at her for a brief moment, a dark, desiring gaze that made her internally shiver. „Do you really think I give a shit about what kind of underwear I rip off of you?"

„You like to talk big, don't you?"

„You know I don't just talk." He was looking at her in determination.

Ash rolled her eyes. „For fuck's sake Jordan, we've played this game long enough, can you just fu-„

Thermite put his mouth on her through her underwear, a warm, wonderful sensation that made her gasp. God, she wanted to feel his tongue so bad. The man rapidly pulled on her underwear and, just like he promised, the fabric ripped. Ash had absolutely no intentions to scold him. Jordan moved his fingers towards his mouth as if to lick them, then quickly changed his mind and looked up to Eliza, moving his two fingers towards her. Ash understood his hint and took his trigger finger in her mouth, sucking softly and running her tongue over it. His finger felt peculiar, she could tell it had some scar tissue. It didn't bother her though, not in a million years.

Jordan looked at her, releasing a grunt of desire. His cock was half hard and he squeezed it through his pants with his other hand. Eliza didn't let go of his stare, taking his middle finger in her mouth and wetting it with her tongue, running slow circles around it. His wish to taste her cunt was getting overshadowed by his wish to have her work that amazing tongue around his cock. And not just that, he wanted to fuck her arrogant little mouth. Jordan had a feeling she'd like that, she was challenging him with her eyes, wanting him to lose all control. But he was way more disciplined than the woman thought.

Taking his fingers out of her mouth with a pop, he switched his attention to her wet core. Jordan liked eating pussy, making his lovers mad with pleasure, and he knew full well he was good at it. But Eliza, putting _her,_ this gorgeous, arrogant, dangerous redhead under his control, hearing her shout and beg for more pleasure was going to be a lot more of a treat than fucking some random bar floozy.

Ash felt one of his long fingers enter her wetness, testing her, prodding her. It was a more than a welcome intrusion and she yearned for more. Jordan was close to her, so close she could feel his hot breath on her wet folds. He put another finger inside her, moving both of the digits inside of her at a leisurely rhythm, curving them with an evident expertise to make them hit all the right spots. Ash was gasping, moving towards his fingers, clearly in need. And Thermite was more than happy to oblige. His fingers, slowly drawn out with Ash protesting through frustrated moans, were replaced by his mouth. Suddenly, whatever Eliza had felt somewhere else had disappeared and all her world was reduced to his lips on her warm cunt. She was wet, oh so wet, and Jordan's beard was already covered in her arousal and that only spurred him on. Eliza tasted wonderful and he had a feeling he'd stay there forever. He parted her, his lithe tongue snaked out and licked her. Ash swore and bit her lip. She felt the smug bastard smirk, he was well aware of how needy and responsive she was.

He felt like anything he had ever been interested in had disappeared and all that was left was this woman in front of him. Jordan started licking more intensively, hearing her gasps and moans, parted her thighs even more to get better access, completely burried his face in her. His tongue was relentless, winding her up and moving the redhead quickly towards her peak.

„Fuck, Cohen, you have no idea how…"

„Keep going, you bastard, I-„

Eliza's sentence was cut short by her own loud moan. Jordan had resumed the ministrations of his mouth more intensely than ever, his strong hands locking her thighs in place, leaving her entirely in his mercy. All Ash could do was lock her feet around his head and tangle her hand in his dark hair. He certainly didn't need to be forced closer. Jordan was licking at her with determination and intensity, his mouth, while working at her pussy, whispering obscenities, barely audible. She looked down and the picture of his head between her thighs, obsessed with bringing her pleasure, her thin fingers in his greying hair, was more erotic than anything she had conjured up before. Eliza tossed her head behind, closed her eyes and decided that trying to silence her moans more was evidently failing and therefore, pointless.

The sounds of pleasure from the redheaded operator were absolute music to Thermite's ears. She was so close. His face, beard and neck were wet. And when she started reaching her climax, Jordan knew that he would do this all night and more if she let him.

„Fuck, Jordan, don't stop, oh god, I'm right- _fuck_ " Eliza bucked rapidly and relentlessly under the control of his mouth, cursing loudly, the bed creaking, with neither of them being concerned whether it will hold. Jordan quickly brought his left hand to her mouth and she bit his fingers in a futile attempt to silence the sounds of her orgasm, but that concern was pushed completely out of her mind when he kept licking, just as intensely, as if he was trying to wind her up for another-

After a while, she thought she had passed out for few seconds. Her strong thighs were wrapped around Thermite's head. His fingers were on her lips, bleeding slightly from her bite marks. Ash was reduced to soft gasps now and her weak arm let go of his hair. Jordan slowly withdrew his head, breathing deeply. She looked at him through half lidded eyes and wished she could save this image somewhere in her mental storage. Her teammate's hair was messy and his entire face was covered in slick wetness, the man's eyes were enveloped in desire and a hint of a self-satisfied smirk displayed the unwavering pride in his work.

Though while Thermite seemed in control, Ash was anything but. Still spread out in front of him, thighs wet with her own juices and his grip marks, strands of red hair stuck to her sweaty face, a dazed stare that indicated she hadn't yet returned to reality, she looked just as unbelievably sexy as when she rode him that night back at the gym. Jordan quietly realized that he liked her both dominant and submissive.

„When you've regained the gift of language, you can tell me again how I talk big."

„Fuck off, Jordan." She breathed out and couldn't stop her slight smile spreading. „You're good, you don't need me to pat your back every minute."

„Only good? I'm sure the entire base is up right now."

Eliza's eyes widened. „Oh fuck, right, we're at the-„

„Relax." Jordan ran a hand over her thigh, making her shiver again. „The walls are proper sturdy, the door is locked, besides, it could be anyone, nobody can keep track of who is banging who in this place."

Eliza sighed, regaining the control over her muscles and slowly sitting up. Thermite didn't take his eyes off her. He was painfully hard now and she damn well knew. The arrogant little thing is really going to make him ask for it? She watched him squeeze himself through the fabric of his pants, which was rather lewdly constrained by an obvious massive erection.

„By the way, my back's good, it doesn't need patting. As for other things…"

„Uh-huh." Ash smirked, having gained her damn devilish nature right back and lost all humility.

„All due respect, Cohen, I just made you moan like a whore on the first night of shore leave. The least you can do is a little quid pro quo." His voice was calm but she could feel his rapid breathing from his arousal.

„I just think you're the kind of guy who fucks better when desperate."

„I always fuck good, Cohen, it's just that you seem to like to wind me up."

She grinned. „Maybe. It's rather fun to toy with you."

His gaze darkened. „You better hope I don't get to toy with you, properly."

Eliza bit her lip at the thoughts of what he could have in mind. „Maybe some other time. Now take off your shirt." He obliged her, quickly throwing his top off and Ash heard some of the material tear from his clear impatience.

She suddenly leaned forward, unbuckled his pants and took his achingly hard cock out. His hands, placed on either side of her, squeezed the mattress, as he took a trembling breath and closed his eyes at the feeling of her fingers on his flesh. Ash ran her fingers repeatedly over his massive erection. It felt just as good in her hands as she remembered.

„A whore, huh, Jordan?"

„Eliza, c'mon, I-„

„No, Jordan, you're right. Only a whore would be as eager for your cock as I am."

 _Fuck, she was good._ Thermite was close, already leaking, but he wouldn't give her the smug pleasure of coming in her hands rather than making her scream once more.

Jordan grabbed a hold of the hand that was working his slick cock and felt her let go. With the rapid movements of a tiger, he knelt in the bed in front of her, took both of her wrists and slammed her entire body heavily against the mattress, pressing her hands above her against the bed in a strong iron grip.

„You move them before I say so and I'll tie you to the headboard, you hear?" His voice was a flithy growl.

Eliza bit her lip, smirked mischievously and nodded. She would certainly let him tie her to a bed in any other place without sleeping colleagues nearby. A dingy motel room. Or an expensive hotel suite with a view. Whatever would strike her fancy.

Jordan left her wrists above her, switched his grip to her thighs and sharply lifted them up, digging his strong fingers into her supple flesh and spreading her legs. One of his large hands suddenly disappeared and then Ash heard and felt a loud smack against her ass, resounding across the room. Jordan looked over the gorgeous woman in front of him and smacked it again.

Ash for a moment pondered whether to ask for more, but the wish to feel him inside her was stronger, and the Texan himself was desperately hanging on, his cock throbbing right next to her wet core. Their eyes met and she felt the man enter her, pushing inside her relentlessly. Eliza was dripping with arousal, but his large size needed to get accustomed to. Jordan observed with borderline delirious fascination how the redhead stretched out around him, eyes closed and mouth open in a gasp. Absurdly enough, they hadn't kissed yet and he felt the urge to close her mouth with his own. But then those eyes opened and that look meant only one thing. _Fuck me._

Jordan didn't need to be asked twice. He increased the grip on her thighs, slamming her against him with powerful motions. His deep thrusts made her back extend in a long arch, until coming down, trashing about. Their size disrepancy was clear here and Eliza's body was rocked like it was weightless every time he drove inside her. That turned her on to no end. She opened her eyes, seeing the man she shared an unspeakable bond of combat with, his blue eyes narrowed, focused on the way her body moved, sweat dripping down his face and body, furrowed brown displaying concentration and control.

She moved one of her arms spread above her, extended it and slapped him, hard. Jordan's head turned sideways. His expression turned to surprise and thrusts somewhat lost their rhythm, but as their eyes met she saw an inhibited, dark desire. „Harder." Eliza moaned out.

Jordan grunted and drove all the way inside her, slamming her hips against his in increased intensity. Ash practically saw stars and had to clutch the fabric of the sheet on her bed desperately. She was so close. That smug bastard is going to take her there again.

Eliza gathered her remnants of control and slapped him again, stronger than previously. „Harder."

Jordan's eyes lit up and he lost control of his anger. He pulled her hips even higher and felt her lift one of her legs on his shoulder. Jordan slammed inside her from a better position, driving her up the bed with each powerful thrust, absolutely punishing her and making her hold on to anything in the way, but it was futile, it's like her body wasn't hers anymore. He fucked Eliza with unbridled fury, taking out his frustration and releasing the tension that had been burning between them ever since they last touched each other in the training room, it was borderline painful, but god, it hurt so good, _so good_ , „Harder, yes, Jordan, oh fuck!" And she was violently thrashing in her climax, back arching so high he pushed her down and held her there as she squirmed, torturing her with her powerful orgasm.

Eliza was way, way too much to bear to him now and his long held control disappeared as Jordan had one more deep thrust in him before his own long awaited climax finally unraveled, making the Texan ride it out while muttering every swear word in the playbook, still lost in the woman in front of him, gripping her thighs so hard she felt the pain even through her own waves of pleasure.

As Jordan finished desperately driving up against her, he let her legs slide down off his body. The bed was small, meant for one operator rather than two going at it, so Thermite, catching his breath, laid down his head right next to one of her soft breasts. He heard her rapid heartbeat, listened to his teammate's deep breaths as she was still recovering and enjoying the afterglow. His beard scratched her sweat soaked skin, but she didn't mind at all.

The room was spinning around Eliza, partially because of just being fucked out of her mind, partially because of the amount of alcohol they consumed earlier on. She threaded her fingers lightly through his hair. Despite the man's weight on her, she felt comfortable. For a moment, she wished they were anywhere but at the base. They'd lay there for a while, share another bottle as they got ready for a round two. Maybe in a shower. She quickly pushed her thoughts away. No point in dwelling. They were in their base of operations with who knows how many operators around them in the building and her bed was a fucking mess.

The redhead shifted under him and Thermite, feeling her intentions, slowly dragged himself off the woman and sat up, stretching his back and rubbing his knees. „Now that was something." He hoarsely exclaimed.

Eliza saw no point in teasing him and launching yet another one of their battles. „Sure was. I'm going to feel this in the morning."

„Kateb has a lot of pain pills. Though you'd probably should maintain it's the hangover that's culpable." She scoffed and kicked his shoulder with her bare leg, finally regaining the wish to move.

Thermite felt up his jaw. It was aching a bit from her slaps. He brushed the memory quickly away, lest he get hard again right when he's about to leave. Both of them suddenly heard footsteps, passing next to the room and went silent, hoping there wouldn't be a knock. The footsteps didn't stop and were clearly moving with purpose, probably some drunken operator going for an nightly walk. Ash quietly breathed out a sigh of relief. There were no regulations against fraternization or whatever you could call their diversion, they were spec ops, not regular military, but she didn't want to be seen as the woman who fucks her colleagues. Some people, mostly jealous bureaucrats in the FBI, where already questioning her rapid rise through the ranks behind her back, they'd obviously never dare to insinuate such a thing to her face in order not to suffer a broken cheekbone. Ash had no intention of becoming the subject of work gossip in Team Rainbow as well. Thermite himself didn't give a shit, but he understood the different way men and women are perceived if they engage in sexual relationships in the workplace. He wasn't the type to make a woman uncomfortable to get a chance to brag about his conquests.

Eliza shot a worried glance towards him. „Listen, I'm not kicking you out, but…"

Jordan smiled crookedly. „Yeah, you're kicking me out. No worries." The man stood and dragged up his underwear and pants. „Hopefully there's some more whiskey left in the mess hall." Thermite got up, threw on his discarded, somewhat ripped shirt, stretched out his limbs and walked in a slow, tired pace towards the door. „'Til breakfast, I suppose. I'm fucking starving."

„Maybe you'll luck out and they'll serve us barbecue."

The Texan swiftly turned around and frowned at her. „Barbecue? The shit they serve here? It's a fucking travesty. I wouldn't give that to my dog."

Ash couldn't help but chuckle. „I've never understood why you people take it so seriously. It's just meat and sauce."

Jordan looked positively furious. „Meat and sauce? Now, hold on-„ He exasperatedly waved a finger towards her. „Where I'm from, you'd get put up against a wall for that. I liked you better with my fingers in your mouth."

Ash grinned at his seemingly genuine discontent. What's with Texas and food? „I liked you better with your mouth busy as well. Consider this me kicking you out."

Her fellow operator, still quite angry, shot her a wink before turning around again. Eliza fiddled with the sheet, unsure of what she's about to do. They were still drunk though, so this might be forgivable.

„Jordan."

The man turned around again, expecting her to make another smug remark. Instead she stood up, still naked, as he unashamedly looked her up and down, slowly. Ash realized she was nervous. _You just fucked like animals, but you're afraid to kiss him?_ After taking a deep breath, she closed the distance between them in quick strides, with him running his eyes up her naked body and locking them to her face. She looked at him for a moment, taken aback at how there was no smirking, no self-satisfaction, just a serious look, waiting for her to make a decision. She then reached up, fingers in his dark hair, and kissed him.

Thermite didn't move for a while. Fucking came as the most natural thing to them, but this weirdly felt more intimate. Her lips were soft and almost gentle on his at first, but as he responded and opened them, she deepened the kiss with clear intensity. He slipped his damn skilled tongue in her mouth and heard her moan with approval, just a little. It spurred the man on, he tangled his fingers in her red hair and firmly gripped her upper arm, pulling her closer to him and running his hand across her naked back. He could feel his cock react.

Jordan tasted so good, so damn good she forgot this was supposed to be a momentary parting diversion. Eliza pressed her bare thigh between her partner's legs. She looked so small, especially when pressed naked against her fully clothed larger teammate. Thermite's powerful hands ran all over the woman, pulled her hair a little, brushed down her back, grabbing a hold of her skin, gleaming with sweat. Ash could feel his scar tissue on her bare back. She wanted him again, so badly, and what was remaining of her rational side, cursed her for thinking she had such a firm control on her desires.

Eliza bit his lip and heard him groan silently. If there was a last chance to get out, this was it. She released his bottom lip and pulled away from the operator. She sensed Jordan was frustrated, but understanding. Eliza was flushed and looked away from his face. He didn't.

„Sleep tight, Cohen." His silent baritone reverberated all throughout her body. He took one last look at her naked form and turned around to exit the room, closing the door with barely any sound. Eliza did sleep incredibly well that night, but not before recalling the way his lips felt on her body.


	4. Chapter 4

The target was a three story building in Portland. It was rumored to be a White Mask hideout as well as a drug operation, so Six made sure to remind them to watch their fire, lest they all go up in flames after hitting something unstable. This was their third operation this week. Usually, the team got a roundabout week break in between ops. But the Masks had upped their activity significantly, which indicated preparation for something big, so they couldn't afford to be tired.

Though, however much they fought their exhaustion, they were still human and prone to too much stress in a short period of time. Ash had spotted Blitz nodding off in the helicopter on the way here. The fact that a human could fall asleep when in a ride to a gunfight spoke volumes about their tiredness. A few days ago, Thatcher had missed a jump and sprained his ankle during a window breach. The mean bastard was swearing as much as he could, but in the end he accepted sitting this mission out. Ash would never mention it to his face, she was smarter than that, but she couldn't help but think his body was failing to keep up with combat. The man was a veteran of the goddamn Falklands War. She wasn't even a year old back then. The Israeli had an inkling Baker wanted to die on the field, rather than retire. While she knew he had a family back in London, wife and kids who had gotten used to seeing him go out to risk his life over and over again, she understood that wish. Eliza thought if she would live to Baker's age, she would avoid retirement as well.

However, the idea of living to her mid fifties seemed more and more distant as a bullet whizzed through a wall in front of her. _I missed a camera._ Without thinking twice, she used her grenade launcher to blow a hole in the same wall, creating a sight line, through which she spotted two enemies. Even on 3 hours of sleep, Eliza could run circles around anyone in her way and as five bullets were gone from her magazine, so were two enemies from their opposition. _5 Tangos left, if the intel was right._

Ash heard gunshot and a dead camera whizz, as if having its last breath, right above her. Thermite had noticed it blinking and shot it out. The man then motioned to Blitz, who was on standby, and followed the German as he charged out, shield towards potential enemies. For this mission, Jordan had donned new face gear, something resembling a silver skull with barbed wire around it. Very Megadeth. When Ash saw it on a chair in the preparation room, she thought it looked ridiculous, though after she had seen him turn a corner and put two bullets in a Tango's face a few minutes into the mission, he was anything but funny.

Ash joined her Texan teammate, venturing forward side by side behind Blitz's shield. Her heart was pounding, but she felt calm and steady. The trio were advanced towards a large wall with voices heard on the other side of it. Thermite turned his head towards her. She couldn't see his expression, but she would bet her entire bank account that he was smirking.

„Alright, let me blow this fucking thing. I'll flash as soon as the wall is clear, then Blitz, you go in and let them have it, Ash, stick behind him and pop those fuckers. I'll flank in the meantime." Jordan silently ordered.

Eliza nodded. No need to protest. This was the same gameplan they executed hundreds of times in training and dozens of times in real operations. She motioned Thermite to wait and put a finger to her ear. „Sledge, how are you doing? You heard the plan?"

The Scottish giant responded through her earpiece from the other side of the building. „If my instincts are right, and they bloody are, we're at the same room, only from the opposite side. Glaz is covering me. I'll smash the windows and take them out as soon as I hear Jordan's charge going off."

„Great. Just don't get caught in the crossfire."

„Hey now, Red, you think I'm a fucking muppet?"

Ash smiled and nodded at Thermite. Her teammate squeezed her shoulder and tapped Blitz's helmet. He proceeded towards the wall in front of him and stuck on his exothermic charge.

 _Is he gonna say it again?_

„A BIG FUCKING HOLE, COMING RIGHT UP!"

 _You bet he did._

Ash put down her head to avoid the shrapnel and the forthcoming flashbang. She felt the German in front of her move and proceeded an inch behind him, holding her rifle over his shield. On the other side she could hear the recognizable and terrifying sound of a hammer smashing through a window, followed several shots from a high caliber sniper rifle. The hostiles inside the room started swearing. But when Blitz flashed them through his shield, the swearing turned into unabashed screaming. She saw the first target emerge, waving around his rifle with one hand, the other held over his eyes. Ash squeezed the trigger twice, with the first bullet penetrating his jaw and the other hitting his neck, cutting his carotid artery in half as the blood spray indicated. The second target came in her sights but disappeared just as quickly as a bullet from a sniper rifle opened his skull. The third Tango somewhere on the left side of the room was still screaming in terror as Sledge mercilessly riddled his chest with bullets and added one in between his eyes as well, as a punctuation mark. Ash spied her FBI teammate's shining skull helmet in the corner of her eye. She saw the barrel of Thermite's rifle next, going off towards something further in the room she couldn't see. He fired only twice, meaning it reached his target.

Suddenly, a screaming hostile lunged towards them, not even trying to kill, just to escape. He was met with Blitz's shield, stopping him mid-tackle and dropping him on his back. Thermite and Ash moved both at once. Her, taking a step away from Blitz and raising her rifle towards the hostile. Him, closing the distance quickly and slamming his boot on the bastard's throat. The man was effectively neutralized, but alive. Thermite suddenly turned his head towards Ash. She didn't see his face but it didn't matter. They both agreed. _Execute._

After a shot from each FBI operator in the head of the enemy on the floor, the room was clear. Each operator did a 360 around themselves, but all realized the same thing. It was silent, the only audible thing was their breaths. Flawless breach. By the fucking book.

Blitz was the one who broke the silence. He looked at the guy below him with two high caliber bullets in his head, face split open in a gruesome fashion. „Sorry, buddy. Immovable object, stoppable force." He got up from a crouching position and waved his finger around. „So that's a wrap, right? We might make back to base in time for…"

Suddenly, the German's body flew forward and slumped to the ground. The three operators in the room turned towards the gunshot in a split second. Before the last enemy behind them could shift his barrel to another person, the three teammates let him have it. In a few seconds he was so riddled with bullets that they couldn't make out the features on his face later when they passed him.

As the bastard fell to the ground, Ash commanded. „Sledge, our six, NOW!" The Scot ran across the room in an astounding speed, considering his size, and scanned the sector.

„Suka nahui! What happened? Seamus? Talk!" Glaz was shouting in the radio. He broke protocol, using a real name during a live operation, but nobody really gave a damn right now. Both FBI operators turned towards their usually jovial teammate who was clutching his shoulder in pain, rivulets of red running between his fingers.

„Be calm." Ash knelt next to him, though not before looking at Thermite worryingly. „Let me see it." Blitz slightly moved his hand, showing the entry wound. It was right where his neck met his shoulder, a red 5.56 round sized hole with blood oozing right through it. Ash touched the other side of his next. There was no exit wound. As far as she could tell, no major arteries were slashed, but they needed to take him to a hospital for surgery as soon as possible before he lost too much blood.

Blitz tried to keep calm, despite everything. „…so, as I was saying…scheisse…the Bayern are playing tonight, and…"

Ash smiled at the man's stubborness. „You're in luck then. Hospitals have TVs." She motioned to Thermite. „We need to get him to the helicopter, stat."

Her colleague had raised his mask up. Jordan's face was covered in sweat and his usual confident and focused expression was exchanged for worry for his German colleague. „I'll get a surface. We'll carry him on it. Hear it, brother? We got you." Blitz still had his mask on, but you could tell by his eyes that he smiled in response.

The Russian was screaming at the FBI operators through the radio. „Glaz, it's Blitz, he got tagged in the shoulder." Thermite responded.

„Blyat, how? I didn't see anyone!"

„It's not your fault, you had no clear line of sight. Doesn't matter right now. Stay there and provide overwatch, we're moving him out to the helicopter. And let mission control know we need to contact the nearest hospital, they're gonna need to operate a shoulder gunshot wound."

„Done. Take care of him."

Thermite took the nearby table, up-ended it with massive force to get everything off it, and tapped Sledge's shoulder, who was scanning the surroundings as his life depended on it. „Hey man, we need to carry him to the chopper."

„On it." The Scot hurried to his injured colleague.

Blitz looked at him worryingly. „Hey, brother, be delicate. I'm not one of your hammers." Sledge was too angry to laugh. Together with Thermite they put the wincing man on the table and, in coordination, lifted their makeshift gurney up.

„Guys…my shield."

„Don't worry, I got it." Ash picked Elias' most valued piece of gear up. It didn't protect him now, sadly.

„No, give it to me." Blitz insisted.

Ash understood and placed it gently on his torso. Blitz gripped it tightly with his good arm.

„Let's move." Thermite commanded. Eliza met his eyes and he looked furious. „Ash, watch our six. No surprises."

Ash nodded and reloaded her rifle. She was boiling with anger, but her hands were as steady as ever.

* * *

They had spent the next four hours in a medical center, waiting to see Blitz. The operation was successful and he was in stable condition, suffering no heavy damage but blood loss and shock. The surgeon insisted that he needs his rest. Ash made sure to shake his hand multiple times.

Thermite was sulking in the chair at the waiting room, drinking something out of a brown leather flask that he occasionally passed to Sledge, and, when Ash stopped pacing around for a minute, to her. It was strong scotch which she considered more necessary right now than sleep or food. Glaz on the other side of the room, staring in the wall. He blamed himself for not spotting the hostile earlier, even though everyone understood that there were too many obstacles in his way to see him. Ash went over to talk to him, but he responded that he needs to manage his thoughts. She understood it. A lot of people like to think of snipers as solely cold blooded killers, but they usually are the ones who blame themselves the most when a teammate gets hit. They see themselves as the protectors of the squad, the ones who see more than the people closer to danger and who have the responsibility to cover them. If someone gets hurt, no matter if it was preventable by them or not, the snipers tend to blame it on themselves.

The depressive atmosphere was shattered by a jovial shout. „Hey guys, they won!" Elias entered the waiting room, surrounded by doctors, but walking by himself. His neck and left shoulder where covered in white bandages and arm was hanging in a cast, but the man was grinning his head off. Glaz immediately jumped up, wide eyed from surprise and joy.

„Missed me already?" Elias saw the imposing bodies of Sledge and Thermite advancing rapidly towards him and backed up in worry. „Uhh, Doctor? These two are gonna crush me and ruin your good work."

They made sure to avoid his bad side, but Thermite lightly punched him in the stomach in a joking manner and squeezed his good shoulder. Sledge slapped his cheeks in glee. In between numerous congratulations, Glaz shouted „Sukin sin, you made it! It's a scratch, yes?"

„Yes, back in GSG this doesn't even get you a medal." Blitz smiled. „And Eliza, a sight for sore eyes as always!" She ran over to hug him. „Tell me you cried for me!"

Ash laughed and looked at the doctors. „Any chance we get to leave him here?"

The head surgeon smiled back, understanding how great it was to see their friend back, mostly in good shape. „We wanted to keep him here for monitoring. But as your…boss told us, you guys have the medical part covered yourselves."

* * *

When they arrived back to base, it was obvious that Six had already informed the rest of the team of the incident. A little more than a dozen of Rainbow operators who were on standby at base were all gathered around the entry gate to check on Blitz. When the team got out of their cars, the operators, led by Dominic and Monika, swarmed the wounded German. Even the usually reserved Vincente was grinning and hugging the poor Elias, who looked both ecstatic and worried what the crowd was going to do to his shoulder wound.

Through shouting, cheering and some bottle opening, the group proceeded towards the big recreation room inside the base. Ash felt a strong hand tap her shoulder. „Eliza. We need to talk."

She nodded, obviously knowing the purpose. „Yes, we do." Both of them stopped outside by the entrance and each lit a cigarette.

„So what the fuck happened?" Jordan spoke, cigarette squeezed between his teeth. He obviously didn't share the same jovial spirit of his teammates right now.

Eliza exhaled smoke and proceeded, quiet and serious. „If I have to nominate someone, it was me. I should've watched our six. Instead I rushed in along with Blitz, so-„

Her teammate interrupted her. „Horseshit. You executed your role in the breach, straight out of the playbook. The shield's role is to draw attention so that another teammate could lay down a firing line. You did just that, without you Blitz would be pointlessly exposed. If anyone of us is to be nominated as the author of this fuck-up, it would be me. After blowing the charge and throwing the flash, I could've stayed to watch our backs."

Ash was already opening her mouth to protest, but he waved her off and flicked the cigarette ashes away. „Wait, 'Liza, the point is still coming. But in the end, even I'm not the one to blame. I also executed my role in flanking the hostiles. Truth is, the entire op was a fuck up intel-wise, thrown together only with the most basic recon."

Ash understood what he said. „So, in your opinion, the blame rests on the command?" She took a drag from her cigarette deep in thought. She knew what that meant.

„You goddamn right it does." Jordan's formerly tired eyes were blazing with anger. „All the ops in the past few weeks were planned and executed without the ideal team roster. Think of the people we could've used in this assignment to avoid getting fucked in the ass? Dokkaebi is somewhere in Europe. Jack was on East Coast at the time of the op. Castellano is running around Russia with Craig. I don't even know where Jackal is, but I haven't seen him for about a month. All because we need to run 10 operations at the same time for some reason, not to mention the people taking part in them are hanging on by a thread."

„We're overextending." Eliza summarized his point.

„Yup. Same damn mistake America always makes." Jordan had a resigned tone. Her usually boisterous colleague looked in the distance, one eye squeezed tightly to protect it from cigarette smoke. He looked sad. Ash noticed that seeing a teammate get hurt affected Thermite more than he ever would admit.

Eliza took one last drag off her cigarette. „Okay, Jordan. You're gonna be surprised to hear this, but I agree. We have been filling up our roster over the past year considerably, but that doesn't make us able to take everything on at once. And Six isn't spotless, she makes mistakes in judgement like everyone else. We've been ran dry over the past month." She threw away the cigarette. „But we're tired right now, angry and anxious. I suggest we sleep on it and bring this up to the team tomorrow, otherwise we'd just end up screaming at our boss. Besides, I hear there's a celebration going on." She motioned to their headquarters, through which the loud yelling of Seamus was heard, who probably rambled on about how Blitz took down 5 men with his shield before getting shot.

Jordan smiled. He was tired as a dog, but for his teammate he'd hang on for a few hours. He looked at his colleague. Eliza was exhausted as well, but her hazel eyes were clear. Her red hair was messy, falling around her face. „So, how you're holding up?" He asked in a silent voice.

Ash stretched out her arms. „I'm exhausted, but, all in all, could be worse. We could be planning a funeral right now." Someone yelled again in German, definitely Bandit.

Jordan observed her. „Alright then, see you inside soon?"

Eliza looked at her watch and nodded. „20 minutes. I'll take a shower and be there. Get me a bottle. And you could use a shower as well, you smell like gunpowder."

Jordan's lips extended slowly in a smirk. „Uh-huh."

Ash paused and raised her head to look at him. She hadn't thought about sex the last few weeks. Not like she didn't want to, but in between training, planning, operations and training again she didn't have the time. And ever since their last time, Jordan had acted thoroughly professional towards her. She couldn't really decide whether that bothered her in some weird way.

„What? Use words, Jordan."

„Want company?"

She studied the man's face for a moment. He was absolutely serious. Ash thought about it. All of their teammates on base must be in their bar room, toasting to Elias' health. The base had multiple shower rooms, which where lockable. Most importantly, she was desperate to blow off some steam. Having his body next to her in a warm, steamy shower seemed like a really appealing idea.

„To hell with it. Why not." She didn't break his gaze. „I'll be on the third floor, east side shower room. Wait 10 minutes and then follow me." She gave him his orders and the proceeded inside the building.

„Yes, ma'am."

Eliza sharply turned around. „Call me „ma'am" again and you'll have to find someone else to play in the showers with."

The Texan just grinned and lit another cigarette.


	5. Chapter 5

Eliza felt the warm rivulets of water hit her face and sighed in pleasure. This was a long time coming. Her feet were killing her and her skin was red from the kevlar vest she wore before. She just wanted to relax and shut off. Back home, in her Boston apartment, she'd take a bath with a bottle of expensive gin and catch up on Netflix. But now, she had to take what she could get. And, truth to be told, the showers on base weren't that bad, apart from privacy issues.

Speaking of which, where was her company? Ash shifted impatiently under the hot water, running her hand down her body. This was surely one of the man's games. _If he's not going to show up right when I'm in the mood, Blitz won't be the only one with a gunshot wound._

She covered her hand in her lime scented shower gel and ran it over her body, fingers briefly brushing between her legs. She imagined how his skin would feel behind her, touching her as she is now. A jolt of arousal ran through her body. _I'll do the work myself if Jordan's not here in a few minutes._

Then, speak of the Texan devil, she heard the door open. The man locked the door behind him, so she knew it was Thermite. She heard him kick off his boots. „How's the water?" Jordan enquired.

„Good. Come here and see for yourself. Where the hell were you, anyway?" she asked in a slightly more impatient tone than intended.

„Oh someone's eager, isn't she? Did you already start all by yourself?" Ash could absolutely imagine him smirk at the thought of having her all desperate.

Eliza flushed with frustration. „If you keep talking, maybe I should."

„You know, if you let me watch I won't object." Jordan chuckled. He had imagined it, after all. Thermite had a rather filthy mind and he had lost himself in it more times than he'd admit to her.

„Trust me, I'm not that unselfish." Eliza replied. „Now, are you gonna come here or not?"

She heard clothes hitting the floor as he marched into the showers. She shot a sideways glance at him, trying not to make her appreciation too obvious. Running her eyes up and down his naked form, she realized that she never had the time to admire him properly. Not only he had a broad, defined torso and powerful arms, his thighs where thick with muscle as well. The Texan's tanned body was covered with dark hair and she could spot some tattoos here and there, in the usual places. She briefly locked her eyes to his cock and bit her lip. Eliza imagined tying him to a bed and spending a night with that body, taking her time. She found it hard to tear her eyes away and the only reason why he didn't make a smug remark was that he was transfixed by her own figure himself.

„I went up to check out their little party." Jordan said, eyes still running down the small of her back and focused on her shapely ass. „At this point I think Elias is happy he got shot. They're pouring more liquor into him than during an Irish wake." Her teammate walked right up to her, so close she could feel his breath and brushed his large hand down her back. „There was some pretty expensive vodka. I had some, though I reckon you taste better." He put his lips to her shoulder blade, his beard tickling her wet skin. Eliza shivered.

„As much as I want to properly enjoy myself, we're on a bit of a schedule here," the redhead reminded him. The truth was, she wasn't sure she could take his teasing now. „So hurry up."

„Yes ma'am."

Before she got the chance to protest at the use of the term, she heard Jordan squirt a bit of shower gel on his hand and then felt him run his scar-covered palm over her soft skin. He dug his thumb into her tired shoulder, massaging it. Eliza hummed in pleasure and leaned back towards him. His fingers moved towards a particularly tense spot in her back. She hadn't felt that sensation in seemingly ages. The feeling of his powerful fingers digging into her back, the pleasant water over them, the smell of the shower gel and the man behind her caused a sensory overload.

„Oh, that feels _good,_ " Ash breathed out.

"Found a weak spot, huh?" Jordan said with evident self-satisfaction.

„Shut up." Her tone was clearly indicative of her enjoyment. Ash wasn't in the mood to engage in power play, this time. She was tired and desperately hoping to get the stress of the mission out of her system. So she gave into his hands easily, letting her teammate run them all over her back, down to her thighs. Jordan was focused on her body, his skilled fingers working all over her aching muscles. It seemed like he wanted to take his time, but Eliza was also acutely aware of his growing erection pressing into her back. She knew she was wet with anticipation.

Eliza felt his fingers trace over her light pubic hair and slip into her wetness, massaging slow circles. Suddenly he pushed one finger in, sliding in slowly with no trouble inside her dripping cunt. She gasped against her best intentions. Jordan's lips were on her neck, planting hungry kisses, then running his tongue slowly to her ear and giving it a bite before whispering: „You feel so fucking good around me. What do you want?".

Ash let her head fall back on his shoulder, exposing her neck to him. „More."

A second finger joined his trigger one. He was opening her up slowly, with expert precision. Getting wound up like a clock by his skilled hands, the hot water of the shower covering them both, Ash felt wonderfully excruciating pleasure. Soon, his fingers made her gasp loudly. Eliza opened her eyes and locked them with his bright blue stare. Her colleague looked so heavily focused in bringing her pleasure and that turned her on even more. Jordan's fingers drove deeper inside of her. Her next gasp was muffled by his lips on hers. The powerful grip of his left hand ended up in her soaked red hair.

Ash let his tongue into her mouth, enjoying the way his mouth tried to devour hers. It was anything but tender, it felt deliciously possessive. She usually wasn't the one to submit, but at that moment the thought drove her crazy with lust. His fingers pushed into her more rapidly, deeply, curving with more intensity and she lifted one leg up and balanced it against the shower wall to spread her legs even wider. Ash was now standing on one leg, but the body she leaned against was as stable as ever. Jordan groaned into her mouth. He took his left hand out of her hair and grabbed one of her breasts, squeezing it almost painfully. His powerful arms were now around her and Eliza knew she wouldn't fall.

„Jordan…more," Ash gasped in pleasure. He bit and sucked on her lower lip, the moved his mouth back to her throat to suck at it hard.

Thermite stayed silent, preoccupied with her neck, but his fingers were moving in and out of her with slick sounds, barely audible over the running water, and his left hand gripped her other breast, kneading it and squeezing the nipple hard. Ash wouldn't ask, would be too proud to ask, but she wanted his marks on her. Something that would remind her that their secret escapades weren't just a brief fragment of her imagination.

Jordan growled from lust and his fingers started moving faster. He seemed to pick up on her enjoyment of pain and sucked sharply on the bite mark he left on her neck. She felt his erection pressing against her ass. Eliza was close, unable to stop her load moans of pleasure now.

„Fuck…Jordan, fuck me." She didn't beg, but _demanded._ The man obliged her, his own cock pulsing of arousal at her gorgeous body that responded to each of his touches and bites. He pressed her closer between his own body and the wall. The redhead braced herself against the solid tiles in front of her with both hands. Jordan grabbed her thighs and lifted her up, spreading her legs above his throbbing hard-on. She felt herself lose her foundation on the ground, but trusted him implicitly not to drop her. Even when exhausted, the fit and flexible bodies of both operators handled this without problems.

Ash felt the head of his cock against her and in the next second he pushed in suddenly, making her cry out and curse loudly, even hit the tiles out of the intense sensation that just overwhelmed her. Jordan allowed her acclimatize for a second, pulled himself out of her and buried again to the hilt.

„ _F-fuck..."_ Eliza cried out across the shower, without caring who might've heard. Any hints of slowness and sensuality that might've occurred right at the beginning of their joint shower were gone. They wanted this to be rough, to be memorable. They both wanted to get rid of the memory of the horrible coldness they had felt when they saw the body of their comrade lying on the floor. And what they now had were each others warm bodies, pulsating with life, desire, desperation.

Jordan drove himself inside her again with major force, pushing her upper body and her face against the wall. He held an iron grip on her hips while his other hand ran over her body, squeezing her breasts. His fingers were grabbing and pulling on her supple flesh, like he understood her dark desire to have him mark her. Jordan's thrusts were now faster and just as powerful, rocking her entire body, making her cling to the wall. The Texan's arm snaked up higher and Eliza felt the scar tissue of his fingers wrap around her throat. They stopped any attempts to stay silent now, her gasps and moans clearly audible over the sound of water.

He squeezed, but not hard enough to cut off her air passage. Eliza moaned out loud as he rhythmically drove into her, so hard that her body was slapped against the wall, firmly holding her throat. She felt his teeth on her ear and a deep growl, followed by a plethora of obscenities.

„You like getting fucked like this, don't you? You should see yourself now, so desperate for my cock."

„Shut-the-fu- oh god, yes…"

„What do you want, 'Liza?" Thermite breathed in her ear.

„Ha-rder, fuck me harder, I'm so close."

Remnants of shower gel were running down across the arch of her back. Jordan let go of the firm grip on her right breast and moved his hand down between her legs, starting to rub her as she got closer and closer to climax. Eliza felt like she's gonna black out.

She pushed herself back to him, wanted him even deeper, wanting to reach the sweet release point. Ash felt him squeeze her throat again, harder this time. Jordan pushed her entirely against a wall with one particularly vicious thrust. Her hands gave out against his pressure and she was rocking between the shower wall and his powerful body. That was exactly what Eliza wanted. She yearned to to get driven over the edge and was perfectly willing to give him the keys, at least this time. The man holding her was mad with lust, snarling filth in her ear, which she barely registered, her entire attention now focused on the delicious pleasure consuming her body. She barely even felt his teeth on her neck and shoulder.

„Don't hold back, I want to hear you scream," he managed out, between his breaths.

„Oh god, yes, Jordan, make me come, fuck…"

The loudness of her cry surprised her. She sharply twisted from the exquisite waves of her climax in his strong hands. Jordan, on the edge himself, drove her hard up against the water-covered surface with the few hard thrusts he could still manage. She then felt him empty himself inside her, squeezing her throat, teeth latched on to her shoulder.

The warm water was dripping over them for what seemed like eternity. Ash realized that all her sense of balance was literally and figuratively gone, the woman being pressed between the tile wall in front of her and her Texan teammate behind her, both entities feeling equally firm and trustworthy. She knew that he wouldn't drop her, even as he himself was still recovering from his own climax, face buried in her wet hair. And he didn't, both bodies still encased in each other's warmth, enjoying the flowing water over them.

„I got you, don't worry." Jordan whispered, brushing his lips over her ear, evidently exhausted but surely holding her as he slowly slid them both down towards the floor of the shower.

Ash had slowly regained a stable breathing pattern. „That was…"

„Necessary." She felt Jordan's warm breath and and tired voice next to her ear.

After a while of coming back to their senses he helped her get up, swiftly lifting her on her feet, which she was silently thankful for. They briefly finished their showers mostly in silence. As Eliza had quickly thrown her clothes on, she turned to his direction. Jordan was still taking his time, eyes closed and head hung under the stream of the shower, his right hand massaging the back of his neck. Eliza had to fight the urge to rejoin him.

"See you upstairs." Ash shot a wink at him before leaving. Jordan ran a hand through his wet hair and cursed in newly found frustration. The woman seemed to have found a way to push his buttons, perhaps unintentionally.

After brushing off with a towel, Thermite slowly got dressed and exited the shower. He was still fantasizing about her soaped up body until a mocking British voice snapped him back to reality.

„You two should be more careful. Six would be a ray of fuckin' sunshine if two of her best American ops ended up slipping in the showers and breaking their necks while shagging."

Thermite snapped his head to the direction of the voice and saw his British teammate Smoke coming towards him, grinning his head off. The man was dressed in sweatpants and an SAS T-Shirt with a wet towel thrown over his shoulder, indicating that he had just finished showering.

„The fuck you're talking about?" Thermite tried to feign innocence as much as he could.

„Jordan, I could hear you in the bloody showers on the other side of the floor. Do you have any idea how good the acoustics are in this place? Naturally, I was interested to see which two of us are going at it like rabbits so I took a detour on the way back up." The Brit was barely containing his laughter. „Will make for an interesting subject over breakfast."

Thermite's face slightly flushed. „Listen, James, you tell this to anyone, even your service buddies, and I'll make you eat one of your goddamn canisters." He squared up to the SAS operator. Jordan was bigger than him, but the Brit had been a boxer for quite a long time.

James barked in laughter. „Jesus, mate, calm down, I'm just muckin' about. What do you have to be embarrassed about anyway? All in all, from what I've heard, Ash had a great time." Thermite glared daggers into him. Smoke suddenly turned serious. „Listen, whatever happens between you two is your business, I won't put my nose in it. And no, won't gossip like a bloody nonce to anyone. So carry on."

Jordan backed off with the bare hints of a smile. „Sorry, man, I didn't mean to be so aggressive. It's just that we've had five ops in the past two weeks and we've all been stressed out. Me and Eli…-Ash, we're not really a…well, we don't want it to be public knowledge. Anyway, you sure do know how to get on a man's nerves."

The Brit grinned and patted Thermite's shoulder. „No problems, mate. But I'm serious about the shower thing. A few years ago, met a gorgeous bird at a pub, next thing you know I'm at her flat. She has this great idea of doing it in the shower and all was well for a while, until I, bloody drunk as I was, lost balance with her wrapped around me and twisted my ankle. Had to sit out the next op. Seamus never let me forget it."

The Texan laughed. „Hey, worse ways to injure yourself, right?"

„Damn right there are. Anyway, you two, behave. I have no intention of losing sleep tonight." James grinned at him and proceeded to the staircase. „Oh and Jordan – be a dear, will you – remind me never to go into those showers."

* * *

Ash, who had just finished her plate of eggs and bacon, now sipped on a black coffee in the mess hall while focused on a laptop, running over some intel and the morning news. In her peripheral vision, she saw Thermite coming over to sit in front of her with his own half empty cup. She returned his brief „Mornin'" with a nod.

„Hey, listen…about last night…you should probably know that Porter was in the showers on the same floor and noticed." He was straight out with it and sipped on his lukewarm coffee.

The redhead suddenly lost all interest in the laptop. Her eyes shot up, glaring with frustration. „Are you sure?" Thermite nodded. „Fuck. I knew it wasn't smart to-„

„Relax. James walked up to me, shortly after you left. He was busting my balls about it, but otherwise, he knows it's nobody's business. He promised me he won't tell anyone."

Ash wasn't quite sure about it, but she felt somewhat relieved. She knew that while Porter was a troublemaker, he was trustworthy and a man of his word. „Jordan, can I have a word, outside?"

As the pair set down their coffees and moved towards the exit, they saw Hibana walking towards them to the mess hall. By the look of the bags under her eyes, it was evident she had just returned from an assignment.

„Jordan, Eliza. Good morning." The Japanese operator was tired but polite as always.

„Mornin', Yumiko. How you're doing?" Thermite returned the greeting first.

„A bit jetlagged, but nothing a strong cup of coffee won't fix. We had a good few days, by the book target elimination. I heard you guys had problems though. How is Elias?"

„He's sitting now in the medbay, though I'm not sure whether Gustave is monitoring his gunshot wound or his hangover." Jordan wore a smile, remembering the festivities that went on deep into the night.

Yumiko feigned offense. „Oh great, you threw a party without me while I dodged bullets halfway across the world? I'll expect a formal apology until lunch." She playfully slapped the Texan's shoulder. „I'll go see him after having breakfast." Hibana proceeded towards the mess hall.

Eliza liked Yumiko and respected her a lot. She had the gift of making people work together despite their best interest, her various experiences all over the world had made her perceptive and open to other viewpoints and personalities, something that Eliza admittedly lacked. Yumiko looked younger than her age, but her talent and background made her invaluable to the team. She had worked with Jordan in developing her gadget and Eliza suspected that she had an attraction towards Thermite, though the man didn't speak of her in a personal sense, other than the fact that she is a great colleague and very creative.

They went outside and lit their cigarettes. Their smoke breaks seemed to had become sort of a one-on-one escape for them, a way to go over game plans.

„By the way, that's a nice shade of purple on your neck." Jordan said, clearly amused.

Eliza looked at her reflection in the nearest window and saw a purple bruise of her neck that now wasn't covered by her collar. Something that looked obviously formed by another person's mouth.

„Seriously, Jordan? You could've said something before." Ash was obviously annoyed, dragging the collar of her shirt upwards to try and conceal the bruise.

„I don't know, I think it suits you. Brings back nice images as well." Thermite was barely containing his laughter.

„Idiot." Eliza pretended to be more angry than she truly was. She pressed the bruise slightly while checking it out. It hurt a little, shooting a jolt of arousal through her body. She hoped he hadn't noticed.

Jordan was examining her carefully, hands on hips with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and brought her out of her pleasant memories. „So, you wanted to talk about something other than my teeth marks on your neck, I presume?"

„I thought about that problem we talked about yesterday. Overextending, as you put it. I threw some ideas together. Minor restructuring, more effective decision making. We should talk about it and then go to Six." Eliza exhaled smoke, deep in thought.

Jordan tried to ignore the way her lips parted to wrap around the cigarette. „Well, I'm flattered you'd take interest in my opinion. I was clear that I'm all for it."

„Sure, but we should probably fare better if it weren't just the two of us. I was wondering who could we bring along to help convince Six. I'm well aware of everyone's skills, but it seems like you…know them better in terms of their personalities, I guess." Ash looked away. Jordan was quite aware of how difficult it was for her to admit her shortcomings. And while Eliza was an excellent leader operationally, she was more of a type to lead by example, while Jordan valued leading through team bonding.

„They all like you, 'Liza. I just drink with them more."

Ash managed a half-smile.

„So, if you're asking me who to take with us, hmmm…" Jordan continued. „Well, my choice would be the most senior members of some units. Gilles, Baker…uh, probably not Marius or Dom, better take Monica from GSG, she's the most level headed. Yumiko's good at persuading. Bring Glazkov, he can be a goddamn wordsmith, and he was the most pissed about Elias getting shot. Vincente, definitely. And ask Mei Lin, if she's here. That would be all, we don't need a small army for a discussion."

Ash nodded at his suggestions. „Good choices. I'm probably going to ask Gustave as well, he's the one who has to patch some of us up. I'll see you in the meeting room to go over a few talking points in, say, half an hour?" She extinguished her cigarette.

„Oh yeah, and one more thing." She turned back to face him. He furrowed his brows at her, silent, cigarette dangling from his lips. She both liked and hated his Eastwood-ish charm. „Good time last night."

Jordan smirked and Eliza knew exactly what kind of an image he recalled. „Yeah, about that, I was kinda disappointed you disappeared at the end of the night. Wouldn't have said no to round two."

She was glad he took this with humor and avoided the potential awkwardness. „After all that? I was dead tired and full of like five glasses of scotch. I wasn't up for anything other than falling asleep."

„Well, you always know where to find me. And, 'Liza?"

„Yeah?"

„You got quite a few of those, don't you?" Jordan's relaxed look had shifted to a darker one. He suddenly leaned towards the redhead and brushed his thumb across the purple bruise on her neck.

Eliza didn't move, but drew in a sharp breath which he surely noticed. She felt him press the bruise harder, sending a jolt of slight pain and excitement through her body. The woman held her teammate's gaze.

„How about we leave this for another time? Maybe I'll give you some too," Ash tried to keep a composed tone.

„Mhmm, sure. I'll have something to think about in the meantime." He sounded almost preoccupied, running his finger over her throat for good measure, observing her reactions.

She knows she betrayed something. Eliza still fought her realization that Jordan ended up having a bigger hold over her than she intended or wanted to, back when their personal relationship still only amounted to a random one night (or, more precisely, fight) stand. But she couldn't let him win so easily. So Ash did what she still could and walked away, back inside to hide behind the job.


	6. Chapter 6

There are some sounds that are welcomed and some that are abhorred. The unmistakable sound of a beeping C4 charge in close proximity to you is clearly in the latter category. But the deafening blast in makes when it goes off is another thing entirely.

As Jordan received the shockwave of the explosive and flew back, he at least acknowledged the fact that he heard the blast – that would mean he was still alive and mostly intact. He felt the back of his head hit the floor and registered pain, acknowledging that his helmet had flown away due to the impact of the blast.

Out of sheer reflex, Jordan went for his M45 on his thigh and aimed in the general vicinity of the door that was now blown open by the C4 on the other side. He registered a target and with impressive reflexes, especially for a man who was a few inches away from being blown to bits, squeezed the trigger that sent a bullet to the terrorist's head. Immediately he saw another target approaching, but before he could squeeze the trigger again, he heard a rifle go off right next to him, eliminating the Tango instantly. Jordan then felt a hand grab his collar and drag him up with surprising force. _Time to get up,_ he realized and rose upright with newfound strength.

„You alright there? That was one hell of a blast." Eliza still had her hand on his shoulder.

„I had it covered. But thanks for the assist."

Ash winked at him and motioned to proceed further. Thermite followed suit, feeling the familiar and welcomed rush of adrenaline. As they slowly moved down the hallway, two targets ran out of a nearby staircase and were met with the firing squad in the form of the two FBI operators. Shortly after the thud of the bodies on the floor, both teammates heard the sharp voice of Zofia Bosak, their Polish point woman.

„Hostage secured. Moving towards the extraction, check your targets."

„Copy that, we're doing a sweep, expect us behind you." Ash replied and motioned for her Texan colleague to stack up next to the door in front of them. They positioned themselves on each side of the door, listened for any sounds that could give away targets and nodded at each other after hearing nothing. Jordan stood back and with massive ferocity gave the wooden door a kick, which made it fly out of its hinges and land a few feet inside the room. Ash rushed in and after doing a 180 degree scan, noticed no targets. However, before she could make one more step, the operator was yanked back with force that made her stumble and almost drop her rifle. „Hey, what the fuck?"

Her teammate's face expression was unreadable due to his mask, but Thermite motioned towards the area where she was about to walk into. „Under the table. Nasty surprise."

Eliza let go of her partner's arm and looked towards the area in question. And there, right as rain, was a nail bomb hidden right besides the leg of a table. It was connected to a razor thin wire, that crossed the part of the room she was about to enter. Apparently the terrorists couldn't afford claymores, so they let their imagination run wild. It probably wouldn't kill her, but the injuries to her legs could be devastating.

„Shit, thanks. Can't believe I didn't notice it."

Jordan smiled at her, even though she couldn't possibly see it. He was well aware of how hard Eliza took any mistakes. „We're even now." He extended a bent arm, hand clenched in a fist towards her and Eliza couldn't help but grin as she bumped it.

„Really? Fist bumps? Are we back in Los Angeles?" Ash adopted a mocking tone.

„Well, we're kicking down doors and rescuing some rich bastard from a bunch of lunatics. This might as well be LA. Though we get to shoot more people."

„Always works for me."

Thermite barked out a laugh and switched to the radio. „Team, we've been running into some makeshift devices, watch out for traps, how copy?"

„IQ here, I'm scouting for those, good copy, over." The German woman was working the floor above them.

This mission, along with the few ones they had to deal with in the previous weeks, was going perfectly according to plan. They had a good, long talk with Six and she agreed to review the regulations on which missions demand the involvement from Team Rainbow. The team was also about to bring new, experienced operators in the team from the famed Italian GIS. Blackbeard and Smoke already had the plans to haze both of the poor bastards. Overall, Six was a very reasonable woman, having had some military experience herself as well, she understood the toll this job takes on the person both physically and mentally.

As they cleared room after room, they became more at ease. Soon, Zofia radioed in that the hostage was safe and secure in the extraction helicopter. Ash and Thermite were minutes away from their ride home as they heard panicked voices in a closed room. Without any exchange of words needed, they instantly stacked up to the door and Ash quickly planted a breaching charge. Few seconds later, the door was turned into shrapnel with a deafening sound.

This time, it was Jordan's turn to take point. He spotted two targets, but, interestingly enough, they were crouched next to the window, observing the team's helicopter. There was a mounted .50 cal machine gun on the window, enough firepower to tear through the chopper. So the fuckers waited for them to be sitting ducks.

Thermite's blood boiled so hot that he was glad to see one of them go for a pistol. He instantly sent a bullet to his face, getting brain matter all over the man's buddy. The other guy was frozen in fear and raised his hands up, his pale face painted with red blood.

„Don't shoot! I surrender!" he exclaimed in broken English. Both Ash and Thermite wanted nothing more than to shoot the guy and be done with it – since there's no way in hell he'd give the chance of surrender to anyone of team Rainbow – but regulations were strict about having to accept surrender from anyone who asks for it.

Jordan leaned down, grabbed the shaking man by the neck and slammed him against the wall. „Listen up. You try anything I don't like, I'll shove your face against the helicopter blades. Understand?" The expression on the terrorist's face made Ash suppress a laugh.

* * *

Their return to base went down without a hitch. Six was pleasantly surprised that they managed to bring back a terrorist alive. This job was first and foremost about intel, and anything they could extract might save lives. With an amused „Give him hell, guys" Jordan dropped their haul off to the interrogation team. Could be that soon enough the bastard will wish he went for his gun instead of letting himself be captured.

Meanwhile, Ying, one of the newest additions to the team, came up to Ash and tapped her shoulder. „Eliza? Thanks for watching our backs. We were lucky to have both you and Jordan."

Ying was a very experienced operator and Eliza appreciated her praise, even though she tried not to show it. „Back at you. Great job out there all around. We couldn't pull off such a quick extraction without your help." Which was absolutely true. Ying's flash charges were a godsend in situations where a quick entry is necessary.

Eliza couldn't help but smile when walking through the base. Spirits were typically high after a successful op and rivalries were forgotten. She wanted nothing more than a cold beer, a meal and friendly banter among her colleagues.

The FBI operator walked into the equipment room to leave her gear and kevlar, only to spot her Texan colleague there. Jordan had set his gear in the locker, but was visibly wincing when trying to take off his vest. His eyes were squeezed together, betraying a pained expression, and his sweat covered forehead was pressed against the locker in front of him. She could hear some barely audible curses whispered.

„You good?" Her voice made his head snap instantly towards her direction. Jordan straightened out, his face instantly changing from pained to normal.

„Uhh, yeah, I'm alright. Just need to get this shit off me. Doc said I might have bruised ribs, so that's kinda getting in the way." His tone was cheery, but betrayed frustration.

„Yeah, you did take one hell of a shockwave back there." Ash observed him trying to reach the fasteners on the side of the vest, trying to move as little as possible to not make the pain worse.

„I'm feeling it now that the adrenaline wore off. No worries, nothing a pain pill and some scotch won't fix." His self assured tone was cut short by a jolt of pain. „Son of a bitch…"

Eliza wasn't one for immeasurable sympathy, but she felt off seeing her usually immovable colleague in pain. „Let me help you with that."

„Nah, it's fine, I'll handle…" The stern look on her face made Jordan reconsider. „Alright, fuck it. Get this shit off me."

Eliza rolled her eyes and walked up to her teammate. Thermite was surrounded by the typical smell of sweat and gunpowder that she had begun to instantly associate with him. „Lift up your arms."

Jordan smirked. „I've noticed that you have the knack for sounding like you're bossing people around even when being helpful."

„Not gonna apologize." Eliza opened a fastener, hearing him breathe easier now.

„Eh, I kinda like it anyway."

Eliza shot him a questioning look. „Yeah, well, next time be more careful, or bruised ribs will be the least of your concerns. Maybe all those thermite charges have had an effect on your hearing? Turn around, I'll do the other side."

Jordan obeyed. „Nope, just got unlucky. All my senses are in excellent condition, thank you very much."

„Oh, I don't know whether I can trust your opinions on your health, considering you don't even bother to invest in basic stuff like gloves."

Jordan looked down on his shorter colleague. „Since when are you so concerned with my well-being? Besides, I'm sure you can attest to the fact that my hands work just fine." His voice had a clearly teasing tone.

Eliza didn't miss a beat. „I'm concerned with your performance." She „accidentally" tapped the side of his torso and heard him grunt in pain. „And I wouldn't act like a smartass if I were you. Let's get this thing off."

She felt her teammate exhale in pleasure as she took the heavy vest off. Thermite carefully felt up the area around his ribs. Eliza tried to ignore the way his muscles flexed under his distractingly tight undershirt.

„Fuck, that feels a lot better. Thank you, 'Liza. I owe you a beer." He looked at her face just in time to still notice her eyes following the way the fabric of his shirt clung to his torso. „Uh, do you need help with yours?"

Eliza rapidly lifted her eyes to his face and noticed his self-assured smirk. She hoped Jordan hadn't noticed the slight flush that crept up to her face. „Oh, it's nothing, I'm just…coming down from the adrenaline. You know how it is." The redhead rapidly turned around and walked to her own locker across from his. She could almost feel his smug expression despite not seeing his face.

„Yeah, _sure_. Adrenaline."

Eliza didn't feel like honoring him with a response. She quickly unbuckled her own armor, relaxing as the weight of the plates was gone. The woman tossed her hat off and ran her fingers through her red hair, stretching her neck in pleasure. In her peripheral vision, she noticed that the man behind her had leaned against his own locker and watched her intently, with crossed arms.

„See you in the lounge?" Ash was perfectly aware of the hints her colleague was dropping, but she still stubbornly chose to ignore the events that had previously transpired between her and Jordan.

„Okay. If that's what you want," Jordan shrugged.

„What do you mean, if that's what I want"?

„You know, I wasn't aware someone could still make you blush." His teasing tone was ripe with the exact kinds of undertones she missed so much, to her own displeasure.

Eliza sharply turned around. „Looks to me like that explosion messed with you more than you admit. The hell did I blush."

„You're doing it right now."

Eliza crossed the room in a few strides and came up so close to Jordan that she could feel his breath on her face and the sweat on his skin. She locked eyes with the taller operator as sternly as she could. „Am I?"

Jordan uncrossed his arms and stood straight up, becoming even taller than her. His icy eyes, now glowing with interest, drifted down from her eyes to her lips and back up.

Jordan opened his mouth to say something, but whatever smug comment he wanted to make was cut off by her soft lips on his mouth, pressing against him in determination to prove that he's not the one in charge here, that his effect on her isn't as strong as he thinks, that she can make him lose control as much as he can drive her crazy. Eliza wore a devilish smile pressed against his lips as she heard a surprised groan escape Jordan and felt his large calloused hands grab her hips and press her against his body, like he had missed this so badly.

Eliza pressed against him harder, driving his body against the locker with a thud. She hummed in satisfaction as she slipped her tongue into Jordan's open mouth, enjoying the taste of the man. The redhead let her hands roam free, first across his sculpted, hard torso that she oh so enjoyed, then over his bearded jaw, then through the buzzcut on the sides of his head until her fingers settled in his longer dark hair on top.

Jordan enjoyed the way she touched him with no hesitation, with hints of aggressiveness and ownership. The woman's actions only spurred him on as he met her tongue with his and slipped one hand under her shirt, running it across her soft back.

She gasped at the sensation of his scarred hand possessively running over her skin. Eliza knew how to drive him insane; she pressed her knee to his crotch which was evidently hardening, and that only fueled her ego. And then, as the image of temptation itself, she drew her mouth away from Jordan's and ran her tongue across his lips, biting the bottom one hard enough to make his fingers grip into her flesh.

That was the final straw for Jordan's self control. With rage-like lust, he lifted her up, reversed their positions, pressing Eliza against the locker with her legs wrapped around him. Any sort of pain the man was experiencing was put on hold now, hidden in some corner of his subconscious. He pressed his face to her neck, inhaling her smell that had driven him crazy the entire past few weeks and put his skilled mouth to work, sucking on the soft skin there.

As much as Eliza loved the sensation of his lips marking her and his beard rubbing against her skin, she pulled his hair as a warning sign. „Jordan," she gasped out, „if you give me a bruise again, I'll walk out and leave you here to jerk off."

He responded with a deep, dark laugh, his lips still against her neck. „After I'm through, you won't be able to walk at all, so shut up."

Eliza felt a fire light inside her. She needed this, _badly_ , and she could feel herself caring less and less about the fact that the door of the room wasn't even locked.

Jordan continued to explore her neck and clavicle with his mouth, turning Eliza's pale skin to red. She bit back a curse as his right hand let go of her ass and trailed towards the waist of her pants. The Texan's fingers lingered around the hem of her combat cargos until he unbuttoned them and snaked his hand inside to feel her. Eliza was incredibly wet already as he felt her up through the fabric of her panties. He would've teased her on any other occasion, but his need was growing more insistent by the second. Jordan sucked on the skin of her neck as he started to rub her clit, enjoying the delicious sound of her gasp in his ear, and then…

„Eliza? Jordan? You there?" the usually friendly but now _really_ unwelcome voice of Miles Campbell echoed through the hallway near the equipment room. „You can't miss this!"

„You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me." Eliza whispered in Jordan's ear with a tone that was dripping with frustration. She was squeezing his bicep so hard he was sure it'll leave marks.

Jordan meanwhile clenched his fists together and was contemplating launching one against the locker behind them. „'Liza, he needs to get the fuck out of here. _Now_."

„He's gonna come in here. Get off." Eliza pushed the exasperated man aside as he let her go and buttoned up her pants, trying to ignore the persistent ache between her legs. The skin on her neck was reddened, thanks to Jordan's mouth, but she hoped Miles wouldn't give it much thought. „And get yourself together, big man." She motioned towards Jordan's evidently uncomfortable crotch which was something that's harder to miss.

He grumbled something in anger and sat down, tossing his kevlar vest over his lap. Just in the nick of time, because Miles entered without knocking, clearly excited about something.

„Jesus, how long does it take for you guys to change? Whatever, doesn't matter, both of you need to come with me to the training facility."

„This better be a matter of life and death," Jordan's tone signified that he wasn't even trying to hide his frustration. Eliza shot him a look of warning.

„I mean if you don't want to see the SAS and GIGN punch each other's lights out…"

„Wait, what? Why?" Eliza's interest had peaked and even Jordan's eyes flared up.

„Supposedly the new guy, Flament, pissed off Baker and they're all squaring off now. We need people to help settle them down before it turns bad."

Eliza raised her eyebrows and turned to her Texan teammate. „Okay, I need to see this. Jordan?"

„50 bucks on Mike?"

„Likewise."

* * *

 **Author's note** : Sorry for the rather long break. I was busy with university and I didn't really want to write on my spare time as well. Expect more regular updates from now on.  
I wanted to get involved in the community more, so I made a RS-centric tumblr, under the name "center-axis-relock". I'll generally be posting stuff about the game and some ficlets/headcanons/whatever strikes the fancy at the moment.


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